General Kuropatkin

Kuropatkin was 56 years old, he was in the prime of his military talent, but "the course of history", the run of circumstances were by no means always on his side. And he has not commanded troops since the time of Plevna in 1877.

On February 15, 1904, General Kuropatkin presented the sovereign with a plan for a military campaign in Manchuria. The five main provisions of this plan made a great impression on the emperor. Kuropatkin firmly adhered to the concept of a defensive war, at least for initial stage conflict. He writes to the king: “In the first stage of our campaign main task should be to prevent the destruction of our forces piecemeal. The obvious importance of this or that point or position (with the exception of fortresses) should not lead us to an essential, big mistake holding this place with insufficient numbers of troops, which will lead us to the result that we seek to avoid. Gradually building up strength and preparing for the offensive, we must carry out offensive actions only when we are strong enough to attack, when we have all the necessary supplies for an uninterrupted offensive for a long period of time.

And the tsar appointed Kuropatkin to command the Russian ground forces in the Far East. His competence did not include the armed forces in Vladivostok and on the Yalu River. Seeing him off, Witte advised to send Admiral Alekseev with an escort to Petersburg.

The public loved Kuropatkin. On all passing railway stations he was greeted with flowers and applause. He also asked for "six months of time and 200 thousand troops", then he will solve his problem. Kuropatkin warned the public that “in the face of the Japanese, we have a very serious opponent who needs to be measured by European standards. It is very important that they do not develop a consciousness of superiority in open struggle when they outnumber their opponent. This would raise their morale even higher.” It must be said frankly that the majority of Russian generals at that time decidedly did not share a high opinion of their opponent. Generals such as Zasulich were convinced that the battle with the Asians should not be taken too seriously.

What was left for Kuropatkin to do (in the context of the vulnerability of Port Arthur and Dalny, the remoteness of Liaoyang as the main base) on the outskirts of the Yalu? He moved along the Great Trans-Siberian Railway, skillfully expressing at all stations his confidence in an imminent victory. In fact, General Kuropatkin, a man with considerable military experience and obvious common sense, saw the only correct course in retreat. It would be psychologically correct to expect the worst. The public enthusiasm will not last long. This is what Kuropatkin, the man who wrote to Finance Minister Kokovtsov, thought: “They carry me in their arms, they give me beautiful horses, they offer me all kinds of gifts, I have to listen to welcoming speeches, they look at me as the savior of the fatherland. And so it will continue until I arrive at my troops; my star will rise higher. And then, when I reach my destination and order my troops to retreat north and withdraw my troops before reinforcements arrive from Russia, the same newspapers that sing hymns to me today will ask puzzled questions why I am delaying beating macaques. . My star will fall lower and lower, and when I suffer even small and inevitable defeats, my star, falling, will reach the horizon. This is where I will ask for help, because it is then that I will launch an offensive, at the entrance of which I will defeat the Japanese without pity.

It is not surprising that Kuropatkin, a supporter of a strategic retreat, irreconcilably clashed with the viceroy Alekseev, for whom retreat was anathema. The public, both patriots and sycophants, craved an immediate victory. Kuropatkin really began to lose popularity with his plans to retreat until the Russian troops achieved numerical superiority (and certainly until August 1904). Alekseev called for battles at the landing sites of Japanese troops; Kuropatkin wanted to lure them into the depths of the continent. Alekseev, at least, agreed to retreat to the Yalu, to the mouth of this magnificent river, where it flowed into the Yellow Sea.

Kuropatkin arrived in Liaoyang on March 28, 1904, and set up his headquarters in a railroad car. All his fears about the complexities of organizing in a distant land have increased by reality many times over. The troops did not have the necessary training, strategic thought gave way to emotions, distance and general impassibility robbed the hardest of Russian soldiers of energy. A difficult circumstance was the mere fact that the alleged center of his military system - Liaoyang - defended more than three hundred kilometers from Port Arthur and 200 km from the fortifications on the Yalu River. Vladivostok was located 700 km to the northeast.

First of all, General Kuropatkin "counted" his forces. 68 infantry battalions, 120 guns, twelve horse-drawn artillery mounts, 16 mountain guns, 35 squadrons of Cossacks. The latter were located in the open spaces leading to Vladivostok. The "vertical of command" was unclear. So General Stessel was subordinate to both Kuropatkin and Alekseev. The troops of General Linevich on the Ussuri River were independent part. It is not surprising that contradictions arose between Kuropatkin, Alekseev and Stessel: in all acuteness, the question arose of who was destined for supplies arriving from Central Russia. There is nothing surprising in the above advice to Witte Kuropatkin to "arrest Alekseev" and send him to Petersburg.

Let's dive into this special world. The idea of ​​retreat seems sound: the enemy must be beaten with a fist, not with five; in order to gather forces into a fist, Kuropatkin needed time, in "pulling" the Japanese into separate sections. The farther to the north and west, the closer to the great Trans-Siberian river, the farther from the Japanese sources of supply. The proposal to beat the enemy at landing sites sounds good as a combat inspirational idea (almost Churchill), but try to imagine the Ussuri taiga, unfamiliar lands in that distant Korea, Japanese dominance at sea, their freedom in choosing a landing site. This was their land, they fought here for 3 thousand years, and for the last ten years with modern weapons.

Withdrawing to Yalu without encroaching on coastal battles seems reasonable. The stormy Yalu itself is a huge obstacle both in the upper (taiga) and lower reaches, where it spills so widely. Will the Japanese general Kuroki with his army, with considerable supplies, be able to cross the river, which is the best shield of the Russians? There were no bridges on this river anywhere and never.

By the time Kuroki began to move north, the Russians had 21 infantry battalions, ten artillery batteries, 16 cavalry squadrons (Cossacks) here. Crossing the Yala here required exceptional effort and it was vulnerable spot Japanese.

Kuropatkin requested intelligence on the ways of the Japanese advance to the north and received his assessment on April 18, 1904. The Japanese are approaching the city of Eiho on a tributary of the Yalu. Kuropatkin ordered to avoid serious clashes, to avoid meeting with superior Japanese units. Between Liaoyang and Yalu there is a large and very wild space. Time, as it was seen, worked for Russia. A company is enough in these roadless places to hold off a whole regiment; Let's use these circumstances. Kuropatkin appoints General Kashtalinsky as commander of the Eastern Detachment, whose task was not to defeat the Japanese on the Yala, but to slow down their advance to the vital centers of the Russian Far East as much as possible.

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Kuropatkin Alexei Nikolaevich Born in 1848 in the family of a retired officer, a small landowner. He was educated in the 1st Cadet Corps, then at the Pavlovsk Military School. Since 1866 in Turkestan. Participated in a campaign against Bukhara, in the storming of Samarkand, Khujand. In 1874 he graduated

Intelligence mission to Turkey

The crown of thorns of General A. N. Kuropatkin

General of Infantry Alexei Nikolaevich Kuropatkin left behind a significant literary legacy and the richest personal archive, which was transferred to the state storage. Among the materials stand out memoirs "Seventy Years of My Life", written during the First World War and the Civil War on the basis of diary entries.

The name of A. N. Kuropatkin, who had the court rank of adjutant general, in Russian history is associated primarily with the Russo-Japanese war of 1904-1905, during which the Russian army under his command suffered crushing defeat. Historians and publicists did not skimp on unflattering characteristics addressed to the general. For many years, the shadow of a shameful defeat made it impossible to objectively evaluate this controversial historical figure. A. N. Kuropatkin served in the Russian army for almost 60 years, participated in all the wars waged by Russia in late XIX - the beginning of the 20th century, was wounded four times. He achieved his position not through court intrigues, but only through labor, having successively passed through all the stages of military service. A. N. Kuropatkin was born on March 17, 1848 in the village. Sheshurino, Kholmsky district, Pskov province. His father, Nikolai Emelyanovich Kuropatkin, was a captain-surveyor who taught at the 1st Cadet and Naval Corps in St. Petersburg. On the eve of the peasant reform of 1861, Kuropatkin Sr. retired and, after his marriage, settled in the village, where he took up zemstvo activities: he was a vowel, chairman of the zemstvo council and a local magistrate. The mother of the future general, Alexandra Pavlovna, nee Arbuzova, is a small landowner who received 1,500 acres of land as a dowry. The beginning of the biography of Alexei Nikolaevich is typical for a Russian nobleman of an average hand: home education, the 1st Cadet Corps in St. Petersburg and the Pavlovsk Military School, which he entered in 1864. The spiritual development and formation of the young man's civic position, by his own admission, was strongly influenced by Russian literature of that time. In 1864-1866. among the cadets of the Pavlovsk School, articles by N. G. Chernyshevsky, D. I. Pisarev, N. A. Dobrolyubov, as well as the works of I. S. Turgenev and L. N. Tolstoy, were widely disseminated. "In the works of these authors," A. N. Kuropatkin wrote many years later, "Turgenev's "Fathers and Sons" had the strongest impression and influence, supplementing in our judgments "What is to be done?" Chernyshevsky's "War and Peace" Tolstoy" 1 . In 1918, in response to a questionnaire about political views, he replied that "until 1866 he was a populist of the old school" 2 although, by his own admission, "his heart was drawn to the distance, into the unknown risk, full of adventure and diversity" 3 . After graduating from the Pavlovsk military school in 1866, the 18-year-old lieutenant Kuropatkin went to serve in Turkestan and immediately found himself in a combat situation. He becomes a witness and participant in the accession to Russia of the Semirechensk region. In 1871, the young officer entered the Nikolaev Academy of the General Staff, which he successfully completed and, as an encouragement, was sent on a business trip abroad to Algeria. Here he participates in the fighting of the French troops in the Sahara. The result of his stay in North Africa was the first major scientific work of A. N. Kuropatkin "Algeria" published in 1877. The Conference of the Academy of the General Staff rated this work as a dissertation for the right to occupy a professorial chair. Having brilliantly graduated from the academy, Captain Kuropatkin had the right to choose vacancies. A tempting prospect of service in the capital, in one of the privileged guards regiments, opened before him, but he again chooses Turkestan. Here fate brought the officer together with General M. D. Skobelev, already well known in Russia at that time. Soon Alexey Nikolayevich became the chief of staff in his detachment. Together they participate in the conquest of Ferghana. In all cases, Kuropatkin showed himself as a brave officer. So, in January 1876, commanding an assault column in a night battle near Uch-Kurgan, he was the first to climb the fortress wall, for which he was awarded the Order of St. George 4th degree. In 1876-1877. as the head of the Russian diplomatic mission, he carried out the responsible assignment of the government at the court of the ruler of Kashgaria, Yakub Khan, to establish the border line between the Turkestan Governor General and Kashgaria. The negotiations ended successfully, and the time spent on them was credited to Kuropatkin as participation in a military campaign. After Turkestan, Alexey Nikolayevich leaves for the Danube, where the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878 began. Participates in the battles near Lovcha, Plevna and in the transition of the Russian army through the Balkans. Again he is wounded and severely contused. After the war, with the rank of Colonel A. N. Kuropatkin, he was appointed chief of the Asian part of the General Staff. At the same time, he lectures on military statistics as an adjunct professor at the Academy of the General Staff. But this activity did not satisfy the ambition of the officer, and he went to Turkestan for the third time. Here he receives the Turkestan rifle brigade, in which he began his service in 1866. Under his command, she participates in the Kuldzha campaign. Heading in 1880-1881. The Turkestan detachment leads him to conquer the Akhal-Teke oasis. On January 12, 1881, the main assault column headed by him broke into the Geok-Tepe fortress, for which Alexei Nikolaevich was awarded the Order of St. George 3rd degree. In the period from 1882 to 1890, General Kuropatkin served under the Chief of the General Staff N. N. Obruchev. Here he was engaged in the development of mobilization plans for the Russian army, made numerous inspection trips to the border districts, as well as abroad. During his stay in St. Petersburg, Alexei Nikolayevich lectured and conducted practical exercises in tactics at the Academy of the General Staff, but because of a disagreement with its head, M. I. Dragomirov, he was forced to interrupt them. The next stage in Kuropatkin's military career was the post of head of the Transcaspian region and commander of the troops stationed here. In these positions, his abilities as an administrator were fully revealed. For 8 years of his leadership, he founded several cities and Russian villages, laid roads, contributed to the expansion of cotton crops. In 1898, by the highest decree, A. N. Kuropatkin was appointed Minister of War of Russia. His activities in this post were associated with attempts to reform the army, which, as a rule, were perceived with caution in the highest bureaucratic circles. The war with Japan that began in 1904 dramatically changed the fate of Alexei Nikolaevich. In February 1904, he was appointed commander of the Manchurian army, and then, from October of the same year, commander-in-chief of the armed forces in the Far East. I must say frankly, the commander did not come out of him. Extremely cautious and indecisive in a difficult situation, he ordered the troops to retreat at the decisive moments of the battles. B. A. Engelgardt, a participant in this war, noted: “He (Kuropatkin. - V. A.) may have been able to calculate and prepare a lot in detail, but throughout the entire war he never showed either perseverance or determination, without which it is impossible to bring it's up to victory" 5 . After the defeat at Mukden, Kuropatkin was removed from his post and replaced by General N.P. Linevich, under whose command he now entered as commander of the 1st Army. Even then, Kuropatkin began compiling a "Report" on his stay in Manchuria. Before he could complete this work with the officers of his headquarters, on February 14, 1906, he received the highest order to transfer command to his deputy and "leave by rail ... with the first departing echelon." He was ordered "not to stop in St. Petersburg and its environs, to live in his estate, in Sheshurino ... to refrain from any interviews, from excuses and statements in the press" 6 . So the disgraced general was out of work. Here, on the estate, he finally completed the "Report", which amounted to four solid volumes. After reading two of them, Nicholas II decided "that the reports of General Kuropatkin should in no way be made available to everyone until they appear in print. official history Russian-Japanese war" 7. Both the tsar and the War Ministry were afraid of the negative impact on the army of the thoughts contained in them. "If the report appears in the troops and society, then its harm will be enormous," wrote General N. S. Yermolov. And General A. Z. Myshlaevsky even noted that “at the present time, when constant efforts are being made by the enemies of order to revolutionize the army, the essay of Adjutant General Kuropatkin, if it is distributed, will play into this hand. It will be disastrous for the spirit of many military units and will provide rich material for dirty polemics "8. Nevertheless, Kuropatkin's notes could not simply be dismissed. to a number of generals and commanders of military units for a thorough study of the experience of the war. Ultimately, the document nevertheless got into the open press. In 1909, without the knowledge of the author, it was printed in Germany under the title "Notes of General Kuropatkin on the Russo-Japanese War. The results of the war. "In November 1906, the adjutant wing of the emperor, Prince A.P. Trubetskoy, arrived in Sheshurino with permission for Kuropatkin to live wherever he wished, and at the same time with the invitation of Nicholas II to come to a reception at the Winter Palace. On December 21, the disgraced general appeared before emperor. Their conversation lasted more than an hour. The former commander of the Manchurian army and commander-in-chief of the armed forces in the Far East informed the tsar about the shortcomings revealed by the war in the Russian army. At the end of the audience, Kuropatkin asked Nicholas II to forgive himself and the army for the fact that "we are in the period given to us did not bring victory to Russia." The emperor replied: "God will forgive, but remember that the winners always return with a laurel wreath; defeated with a wreath of thorns. Carry him courageously." 9 The disgrace was removed, the question of appointing Kuropatkin to the Caucasus was considered, but it never took place. Apparently, the crown of thorns turned out to be too heavy. Newspapers did not skimp on criticizing the unfortunate commander in chief, and in order to somehow protect their honor and dignity, Kuropatkin challenged his offenders to a duel six times, including S. Yu. Witte and M. O. Menshikov. Spending most of his time on his estate, Alexei Nikolaevich was actively engaged in social activities and scientific work. He opened an agricultural school and a library at his own expense. Being under the impression of the Russian-Japanese war, he created a significant work "4 tasks of the Russian army", in which he tried to substantiate the idea of ​​the need for Russia to carry out foreign policy corresponding to her national interest, condemned Western European influence, which, in his opinion, manifested itself with particular force in Russia at the beginning of the 19th century: "Russian Westernizers, convinced of the usefulness of the speedy Europeanization of Russia, having penetrated into the highest governmental layer, together with foreigners and foreigners, weakened Russian power by the end of the 19th century. national self-consciousness and at the same time, applying the Western school and Western economic systems to Russia, led the Russian tribe not to strengthen, but to weaken both spiritually and materially" 10 . The book caused a lively controversy in the press. Despite the formal retirement, A. N. Kuropatkin remained a welcome guest in many influential houses of St. Petersburg. In turn, former colleagues and public figures often visited him in Sheshurino. Therefore, he was constantly aware of the affairs of the army and followed the foreign policy of the country. Like a dick State Council(since 1898) sent memorandums directly to many ministers on issues related to the military department. Started in 1914, the first World War excited the old servant. He rushed to the front, repeatedly sent messages to the emperor, but they remained unanswered. In one of them, Aleksey Nikolaevich wrote: “Understand me! They laid me alive in a coffin and crushed me with a coffin lid. His request was finally reported to the tsar by Minister of War V. A. Sukhomlinov. But Nicholas II did not give consent. Only after the arrival of General M. V. Alekseev at Headquarters, Kuropatkin's wish was satisfied. "It's a pity for the old man," the new chief of staff of the Headquarters once said, "and he's not as bad as many people think: he's better than most of our generals." In September 1915, Kuropatkin was appointed commander of the Grenadier Corps. During the summer campaign, this formation suffered significant losses and could no longer conduct combat operations. Here, in all its brilliance, the organizational talent of the old general manifested itself. Thanks to the care of the new commander, the corps quickly restored its combat capability. At the beginning of 1916, Alexei Nikolayevich was appointed commander of the 5th Army, and soon the Northern Front was entrusted to him. As always, Kuropatkin took care of his subordinates. True, it should be said that in the military field he again did not prove himself, but he also escaped disgrace, which cannot be said about some other generals. In July 1916 in Central Asia an uprising broke out of the local population, refusing to go to rear work. In this regard, A. N. Kuropatkin was appointed governor-general and commander of troops in Turkestan. The February Revolution found him in this post. The old general greeted her with optimism. On March 8, he wrote in his diary: “I feel rejuvenated (he was 69 years old at that time. - V.A.) and, catching myself in a joyful mood, I am somewhat embarrassed: it’s just and indecent for an adjutant general to be so happy about the revolutionary movement and the coup ". Like the majority in Russia, Kuropatkin understood that the autocracy had outlived itself. "But the life of the entire Russian people was so bad," he writes further, "the governmental strata reached such ruin, and the sovereign became so incomprehensible and hated that an explosion became inevitable." Nevertheless, the Tashkent Soviet nevertheless decided to arrest the tsarist governor-general, but soon released him and allowed him to leave for Petrograd. Here Kuropatkin received his last appointment in the military department - to the Alexander Committee for the Wounded. Alexei Nikolaevich was dismissed under Soviet power on January 24, 1918. Thus, he served in officer ranks for 52 years. Together with the people, A. N. Kuropatkin survived the horrors and hardships of the civil war. On September 8, 1918, he was arrested in Sheshurino and taken to the Petrograd Cheka, but on September 25 he was released with permission to live in his homeland. And some time later he received a safe-conduct signed by the chairman of the Petrograd Cheka, G. I. Bokiy. Since then, Kuropatkin has lived almost without a break in the countryside. French Ambassador Nulance offered him to leave Russia, but Alexei Nikolaevich refused, as well as from the offer to join the "white movement". He devoted the rest of his life to social and pedagogical work among their countrymen. The Soviet government retained his ancestral home with a rich library. A. N. Kuropatkin died on January 16, 1925, and in the summer of 1964, students of the agricultural school he founded put a marble tombstone on the grave with the inscription "Kuropatkin Alexei Nikolaevich. 1848-1925. Founder of the agricultural school."

Publication by V. A. AVDEEV, Candidate of Historical Sciences

INTELLIGENCE MISSION TO TURKEY

The events on the Balkan Peninsula in 1885 proved Russia's powerlessness to defend the order of things that was established both on the basis of the victory over the Turks in 1877-1878 and on the basis of the obligations towards Turkey assumed by the European powers by decision of the Berlin Congress 14 . The turn in national politics that took place during the reign of Alexander III required a more definite position from Russia in relation to the Balkan states and Turkey. It became very difficult to defend Russian interests in the Balkan Peninsula only by diplomatic means because of the rivalry of other powers (not only Germany and England, but also Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania). Influencing Turkey or the Balkan states by deploying an army in Moldavia and Volhynia, as was practiced in the 18th and 19th centuries until 1877 inclusive, was now very problematic due to the hostile attitude towards us from Romania (after the rejection of part of the Bessarabia), as well as in view of the entry of Austria into the Triple Alliance 15 , directed against Russia. Therefore, the usual route for Russians to the Balkan Peninsula through Romania became dangerous. Maritime forces Russia on the Black Sea in 1886 was still insignificant, and it was natural for her to strive to occupy a position here that would make it possible to have a leading voice in defending her interests. The old task - to make the Black Sea an inland sea, despite a number of wars waged with Turkey, not only was not resolved in the 19th century, but also moved back. In addition to the Turkish fleet, Romania and Bulgaria, liberated from the Turkish yoke by Russian blood, began to claim ownership of military ships in the Black Sea. More and more I had to regret that in 1878, standing under the walls of Constantinople, the Russian army did not take up positions on the Bosphorus. In my work "Russia for the Russians. Tasks of the Russian Army" (Vol. II), the reasons why we should not have sought to occupy Constantinople and the Dardanelles, but should have limited ourselves to occupying a defensive position that closes the entrance to the Black Sea, are stated in some detail. If in 1878 Russian troops had established themselves on the Bosporus, then Russia would not have had to endure the shame of the Berlin Congress 16 . The events on the Balkan Peninsula in 1885 showed how much "combustible material" had been accumulated there. Germany's activities in Constantinople and Asia Minor also obliged Russia to prepare for various surprises, for example, a rupture between Germany and Turkey, after the true goals of the Germans would be revealed to the latter - to exploit the Turks. It was possible that the Turks would ask for help from Russia, and positions on the Bosphorus could go to us without a war. All these considerations forced all preparations in the Odessa military district to move forward faster in case of sending troops to one or another point. Black Sea coast and the Bosphorus. Loans were also allocated for a significant strengthening of the Black Sea Combat Fleet. Information about the Bosphorus positions in the General Staff was insufficient. The work to replenish them and determine what minimum forces can be limited to when we occupy the Bosphorus, by the will of the sovereign, was entrusted to me, but it required big secret, so I had to take on "for the good of the service" the role of a secret agent or simply a spy. Work could only be done in disguise, with a false name. The capture of such a person with drawings of Turkish fortifications would lead to quick reprisals in Turkey - the gallows. The intercession of our ambassador in Constantinople was not to be expected: he should not even have known about my business trip. I could hope (and even then not for protection in case of capture, but for help during work) on our military agent in Constantinople, General Filipov 17 and his assistant Lieutenant Colonel Chichagov 18 , besides, the first could only be seen in secret. In St. Petersburg I was given a foreign passport in the name of Collegiate Assessor Alexander Nikolaevich Yalozo, dated March 17, 1886, and signed by the St. Petersburg mayor Lieutenant-General Trepov 19 . Arriving in Odessa, I received, at the choice of the chief of staff of the Odessa military district, Protopopov 20, the secret agent of the Turkish citizen Akhmet Zairov as an escort. (In order to protect me from possible betrayal on his part, Akhmet's family, who lived in Feodosia, was arrested with his consent.) I was supposed to appear on the Bosphorus as a buyer of cattle. Dressed in civilian clothes and armed with a pair of revolvers (one in each of my pockets), I set off on a small steamer with the goal of landing on the Bosphorus in Buyuk-dera, the 21-year-old residence of our embassy, ​​not yet occupied in March. When the ship left the pier, I went on deck, began to walk and ran into the captain. He rushed to me with open arms: "Dear Alexei Nikolaevich! What fate are you here for?" There was no one around us. I quickly grabbed him by the throat and hissed in his ear to silence him. My incognito was revealed, but there was no danger yet. That steamboat captain was a retired Marine officer Maksimov, correspondent in the Skobelev detachment during the Russian-Turkish war. He was a good man, not stupid, educated, brave, but with a restless soul, he rushed in all directions in search of his business and found no satisfaction anywhere. After retiring, he worked in the editorial offices of newspapers, was sent by the editors of "New Time" during the war as a correspondent. He wrote cordially and truthfully, not as beautifully as another correspondent with Skobelev's detachment, Nemirovich-Danchenko,22 but without exaggerations, which the latter sometimes allowed immoderately. After the war, Maximov entered the private service in Russian society shipping and trade, and again began to be burdened by his activities. In the evening we had a long talk with him, remembering Mikhail Dmitrievich Skobelev, as well as Lovcha, Plevna, Shipka ... Having lingered before the entrance to the Bosphorus until sunrise, we entered the strait with the first rays. In 1875, that is, 11 years ago, I already passed here on my return from Algiers, but still I could not take my eyes off the wonderful panorama unfolding before my eyes as the steamer moved. My heart sank with delight, at the thought that someday part of the Bosphorus would become Russian. The entire length of the strait is about 30 versts, the width is from 250 sazhens to 3 versts, the depth in the narrow place reaches 60 sazhens, but not less than 25, which makes it convenient for navigation. The shores are very elevated (up to 700-900 feet above the water level) and winding, constantly changing their outlines: either they drop almost vertically down, leaving only a narrow strip of land near the water, or they form several terraces. From the sea side, basalt rocks make the shores near the entrance to the Bosphorus inhospitable. Its northern part adjoins the area cut by deep ravines that fall into the strait. The sparse population of this part of the Bosphorus region huddled mainly along the banks: either near the water itself, or along the terraces. The vegetation is very diverse: cypresses, plane trees, evergreen laurel trees, oaks, many orchards with vineyards, peach and apricot trees. Bright different shades of green caressed the eye. But the special originality and beauty of the Bosphorus was given by the traces of human activity left on its banks for several millennia. The remains of ancient cultures - Greek and Roman - have been preserved in the form of ruins of grandiose castles, monasteries, palaces, partly adapted by the Turks as old-type fortifications, partly neglected and gradually collapsing. Together with the castle walls with loopholes, still serving for defense, the Turks have already set up batteries of a modern type with fairly strong artillery in the northern part of the Bosphorus on both banks. Several rich villas, almost palaces, were also built on the northern shore, they stood out sharply against the background of the surrounding vegetation by the whiteness of the walls. Although the settlements of the Turks along the Bosporus are rather poor, they are also very picturesque. The most important of them in the northern part of the Bosphorus is Buyuk-dere, where the summer quarters of our ambassador were built and the town of Beykos is located. The revival along the strait is great: steam ships of various sizes, sailing schooners, Turkish feluccas and fishing boats. My companion Akhmet and I landed in Buyuk-dere and settled in a modest sakla of one of his acquaintances. The remainder of the day was used for surveying the countryside, hiring horses, and asking the owner and his neighbors where I could inspect the cattle intended for sale. Then, for several days in a row, together with Akhmet, he rode around the European part of the Bosporus area in the Terania region, the Belgrade forest in the south and from it to the village of Chiftala in the west. When I got a general idea of ​​the place where I was, under the guise of hunting, I began to go around it on foot and outline the points that were supposed to enter the line of Russian fortifications on the southern and western fronts. After working for more than a week on the European part of the coast, I went to Constantinople, saw Filipov and returned accompanied by Chichagov, with whom we, having crossed the Bosporus, began to familiarize ourselves with the Asian part of the Bosporus area from Beykos in order to select positions on this side as well. Chichagov had permission from the Turkish authorities to hunt, and we, with guns on foot, making 20-30 miles a day, proceeded from the section between the Bosphorus and the river. Givoy, bounded from the south by the village of Fig-Knoi. After working for several days, we returned to the European part of the coast, and in the next two days I went around with Chichagov the positions I had outlined. We argued a lot, but still came to an agreement. With Chichagov's departure, I continued to work alone for more than two weeks. Her difficulty lay in the fact that I had to be constantly on my guard, to make many entries in cipher, not to have a map with me and not to make any drawings or drawings that could give me away in case of arrest. The terrain favored covert production of work: there was little population, roads, villages, and many thickets of oak forest. In addition, when following the coastal road along the edge of the heights, all Turkish structures were perfectly visible and it was easy to remember not only the figures of a battery or a closed fortification, but also the number of guns and even their approximate caliber. In the evenings, it was necessary to make a summary of what was seen and diligently hide everything in a suitcase with a double (secret) bottom. For a better acquaintance with the Bosphorus, I made friends with an old Turkish fisherman. The depths of the strait made it difficult to catch, but still we anchored and with small boat threw bottom fishing rods. Lead weights were tied at the ends of the forest, and 10-15 hooks with bait were tied above. The other ends were held in the hands. Despite rapid current , we felt it by touch when a fish came across. Thus, in a few days we passed the entire northern part of the Bosphorus. Three times my position was rather bad. The first time Akhmet and I returned on horseback from Yerli-Knaya to Buyuk-dere. Near one of the villages, on both sides of the road, there were rather high clay fences, behind which herds of sheep grazed. Several very large shepherd dogs, having jumped over the fence, rushed at us with fury, and no matter how we increased our pace, they jumped near our feet, trying to bite or even drag us off the horses. I took out my revolver and prepared to fire. Akhmet, galloping behind, loudly begged me not to shoot. But still, the danger from one of the shepherd dogs was so great that when she jumped almost to the height of the saddle (we had Turkish horses, not tall), I shot her in her gaping mouth and killed her. Several shepherds ran on the other side of the road and tried to drive the dogs away. And after the shot, rude swearing and threats were heard. We rode off safely, and when it was possible to put the horses to a walk, Akhmet told me that two months ago an assistant to an Italian military agent was hunting in the same places. Sheepdogs also rushed at him. Defending himself, he killed one of them, but he himself became a victim of ferocious shepherds. They took away his gun, broke it, and killed him himself. All embassies raised the alarm, and the three most responsible for this incident were hanged. Another time, while working with Chichagov on the Asian shore of the strait, we, having climbed into the sand near the fortification of Fim-Burnu, had a snack in the march. At that moment, we were surrounded by four sarbaz (foot soldiers) armed with guns. The eldest of them declared us under arrest on suspicion of espionage. Apparently, we were followed, and our hunting activities seemed suspicious. Chichagov presented the papers, where his position as an assistant military agent and permission from Constantinople to hunt were affixed. I showed my passport. After much arguing, we were released, but a thorough search was carried out. The third case was the most unpleasant. Finishing the assessment of the western face of the bridgehead I am designing on the northern Bosporus, I stopped at the heights of a verst from the coast against the Kiliya fortress, perfectly visible in all details from the observation point. This ancient fortress with high but thin walls with loopholes and turrets was very picturesque and could offer serious resistance during an assault without artillery, but from the sea it was easily amenable to destruction by modern, in those days, naval artillery. I could not resist and made a drawing of the fence and a small landscape drawing of the general view of the fortress. As soon as I had time to put these drawings deep behind the tops, I was surrounded by three infantrymen with rifles, who declared me under arrest. When asked what I was doing near the fortress, I pointed to a steamer that had wrecked near Chilia, and demanded a boat to take me there. (To the west of the fortresses of Kiliya, less than a mile away from it, one could see a rather large steamer crashing into the sand, near which several boats were bustling about and a tugboat was operating, trying in vain to pull the steamer out of the shallows. It was difficult to distinguish the inscription, but from the type it could be assumed that this is a Russian steamer.—Author's note) This thought came suddenly and helped me out. After a long deliberation, it was announced to me that we would be judged by an English colonel who lived in Chilia. Without a search, they took me to the fortress, to the premises of an Englishman, as it turned out later, the head of the "pilots" (pilots. - V.A.) on the Black Sea. A tall, thin, characteristic-looking Englishman came out, looking at me very suspiciously. We spoke in French, and I stubbornly repeated the request to him to give me a boat in order to get to the wrecked steamer. After some deliberation, the Englishman released my guard and invited me into the next room, where a large-scale map of part of the Bosphorus and the southern coast of the Black Sea was laid out on the table. Numerous lines and various marks covered it. Leading me to the map, the Englishman gave a lecture on the double currents of the waters of the Bosporus in the upper layers from the Black Sea to the Sea of ​​Marmara and in the lower layers from the Sea of ​​Marmara to the Black. He explained to me the complexity of the current from the lower layers to the Black Sea, that this current in other cases goes with quite a lot of force along the coast and can slow down the movement of ships moving along the coast. Based on the data he collected over 15 years, the colonel began to defend the captain of the ship that had run aground. There was a storm the night before. The captain correctly calculated the turn at a right angle to enter the Bosphorus, but did not take into account the strength of the oncoming current and was mistaken by 9 versts of the way. They brought us one, and then a second glass of hot strong grog, and we parted amicably. An Englishman's boat was prepared for me, and, saying goodbye, he handed over his visiting card, and in response I handed over a glove on which one could read "Alexander Nikolaevich Yalozo." On the ship I found myself in a rather stupid position. The ship of the Russian Society of Shipping and Trade was a cargo ship, but it also carried several passengers. Starting with the captain, everyone looked at me questioningly. Fortunately, by the name of the ship, I remembered that it was on the list of ships that should be transferred to the military department in the event of production landing operation . Having exchanged a few words on this subject with the captain, and naming the leading persons of the Society in which he served, I gained his confidence. The information received from the Englishman about the currents was accepted by him with gratitude, for it facilitated his justification. When the second tug steamer arrived, the refloating went more successfully. I waited until the end of the work and sailed on the damaged ship to Buyuk-dere. The shore where he crashed was sandy, without stones, and there was no damage. When, returning to Odessa, I told Vice-Admiral Gendre, 23 who was at the head of the board of the Russian Shipping and Trade Society, the case of Kiliya, he answered me, laughing, that the Englishman took me for an agent of the Society. With each significant accident, they sent two agents to investigate: one openly, the other secretly, since there were cases of deliberate sinking of cargo insured for a large amount in order to receive an insurance premium ... When studying the area chosen for the Russian bridgehead , my attention was attracted by two ancient monuments. The first is an aqueduct (water supply) from the time of the rule of Rome, through which water was supplied to Constantinople from springs and freshwater lakes, its grandiose ruins were found along a significant stretch of the Belgrade Forest (20 versts west of Buyuk-dere and 25 versts north of Constantinople ). Another monument belonged, I was told, to the first centuries of the Christian era. This is a massive granite monastery, rather a fortress or a castle, located on the Asian coast near the village of Anatoli-Kavok on a steep rocky hill. Once inside this building, I was convinced that it could be used as an observation point, and it was also easy to adapt it as a reduit (internal fortification. - V.A.). Its disadvantages include the lack of water. In addition, the walls, impregnable for fifteen centuries, at the end of the 19th century are unlikely to be able to withstand artillery fire, despite their massiveness. I finally settled on a bridgehead, delineated in such a way that along the front, divided by the Bosphorus, there were about 20 versts, and along the flanks, resting on the seashore, 10 versts each. The central part of the front was determined by two points: Buyuk-dere in the western part Strait and Beykosom - in the east. The left flank of the bridgehead ran into the sea near the mouth of the river. Givy, right - 10 miles along the coast from the entrance to the Bosporus. The strongest fortifications of the Turks at that time were the batteries of Rumeli-Kavok and especially Anatoli-Kavok, as well as the fortifications of the Madjar Strait on the Asian coast. In addition, batteries were built on the European coast in Sary-Tash, Movro-Malo and Buyuk-estuary, and on the Asian coast - in Kicheli and Fim-Burnu. When crossing the Bosporus, these batteries could present certain obstacles in 1886, but not particularly serious ones. The guns were located openly and in embrasures and could easily be hit by ship artillery. When landing on the seashore and after mastering the heights on the shores of the Bosphorus, these batteries were taken from the rear. When designing fortifications, it was necessary to plan significant work on clearing the explanade, cutting down vineyards, and demolishing some buildings. The area inside the bridgehead, uninhabited, wild, cut through by deep crevices, with little water, was very difficult to communicate, but made it possible to create a number of successive positions. A significant part of the territory of the bridgehead was covered with small oak growth. With the expenditure of significant forces and resources, the positions I chose could be made very strong, requiring serious siege work to master them. But for the defense of sectors on both banks of the Bosporus, I counted on a corps of three infantry divisions and a cavalry brigade. IN Peaceful time as a garrison of this Russian Bosphorus fortress, an infantry division with an artillery brigade and a cavalry regiment were enough. With the passage of time, on the instructions of German instructors, the fortifications of the strait are becoming stronger, and 25 years after my work on the Bosphorus, mastering the positions I had outlined became much more difficult. In the narrowest part of the Bosporus, between Anatoli Kavok and Rumeli Kavok, two mine stations were built by 1911. The Anatoli-Kavok battery is armed with 16 guns of 24- and 15-centimeter calibers. On the Rumeli-Kavok battery, weapons of the 28-centimeter were delivered. A very strong closed fortification was erected on Mount Mador (between Beikos and Anatoli Kavok), armed with 17 guns of 28- and 15-centimeter calibers. Reinforced and other batteries. Thus, the Kiliya fort, near which I was arrested, is armed with 7 guns of 15-centimeter caliber, etc. And with all that, I believe in the possibility of a peace agreement with Turkey, according to which the positions I have outlined with part of the Bosphorus will be transferred under the protection of Russia and constitute a Russian Gibraltar. Russia does not need either Constantinople or the Dardanelles. Having become the patroness of Turkey, she can vote for Constantinople to become a free, unfortified city, and fortifications on the Dardanelles to be demolished. Having received the key to the Black Sea on the Bosporus, Russia will no longer need to protect its northern coast: the fortifications of Nikolaev, Sevastopol, Kerch, Batum can be abolished. The development of the navy in the Black Sea may also be suspended. The last few days of my stay in Turkey were spent in Constantinople in the apartment of our military agent Vladimir Nikolayevich Fillipov and his wife. I put my notes in order and rested after my wanderings. He visited the Princes' Islands and left for Odessa in the last days of April. In my passport, shown by General Fillipov at our Consulate General, there is a note: "N 182. Appeared to the Russian Consulate General and marked for proceeding to St. Petersburg. Constantinople. April 21, 1886. For Consul General Sukhotin" 24 . I lived in Odessa for several days, waiting for the sending of a military uniform ... On April 25, I was already in Sevastopol, where I was assigned to inspect all the fortifications being built from the dry path. At the end of April or early May 1886, Emperor Alexander III arrived in Sevastopol and inspected the completed work on the fortifications. He was accompanied by the Minister of War, General of Infantry Roop 25 and local authorities. During the inspection, the sovereign wished that the servants and officers were with the guns, and made a check of their loading. To do this, on one of the batteries of 10-inch caliber guns, it was necessary to put a heavy live projectile into a "kokor" (a kind of open metal tray. - V.A.), raise it with a special winch to the height of the breech of the gun and then advance it into the bore. Artillery servants acted so clumsily that the projectile, already raised to a considerable height, fell out of the "kokor" and fell on solid ground, but not with a combat screw, but with a breech. Everyone was confused. Head of artillery Sevastopol fortress turned pale as a dead man. Everyone has one thought in mind: what if the shell exploded. The emperor remained completely calm and ordered to repeat. In the Sevastopol bay, the sovereign was present on the same day at the test of the submarine. It was of negligible size, and immersion in water and reappearance on the surface occurred with great difficulty. But still, it was the first experience with underwater combat assets in Russia. The emperor was attentive to everything he examined, asked many very serious questions, and with his calmness and simplicity made a wonderful impression on everyone. Pyotr Semyonovich Vannovsky 26, having listened to my detailed report on the business trip to the Bosporus, approved the conclusions, and on May 5 said that my work had already been reported to the sovereign, who instructed me to thank me. Pyotr Semyonovich added nothing more. Apparently, what the sovereign saw in Sevastopol on the sea and land units convinced him of our unpreparedness to carry out a landing operation on any serious scale.

Alexey Nikolaevich Kuropatkin(March 17, 1848, Sheshurino, Pskov province - January 16, 1925, ibid) - Russian, Russian general, adjutant general (1902), infantry general (December 6, 1900), Minister of War, member of the State Council. In the Russo-Japanese War, he commanded Russian troops in the battles of Liaoyang, Shahe, Sandepu and Mukden, consistently losing them all.

Biography

From the nobles of the Pskov province. The son of a retired captain Nikolai Emelyanovich Kuropatkin (1817-1877).

He graduated from the 1st Cadet Corps (1864) and the 1st Pavlovsk Military School (1866), from where he was released as a second lieutenant in the 1st Turkestan Rifle Battalion. In 1867-1868 - on a campaign against the Bukharians. Participated in the assault on the Samarkand heights, in the battle on the Zerbulak heights, the re-capture of Samarkand and other battles. Behind military honors was awarded the Order of St. Stanislav and St. Anna of the 3rd degree with swords and a bow, and promoted to lieutenant. In 1869 he was appointed company commander, and in August 1870 he was promoted to staff captain for distinction in service. In 1871 he entered the Nikolaev Academy of the General Staff, from which he graduated first in 1874, having received a scientific assignment to Germany, France and Algeria. While in Algeria, he participated in the French expedition to the Sahara. Returning to Russia at the end of 1875, he was transferred to the General Staff and continued to serve at the headquarters of the Turkestan military district.

Participated in the Kokand campaign. During the capture of Uch-Kurgan, he was the first to break into the fortress, commanding a half-company of hunters and a hundred Cossacks, for which he was awarded the Order of St. George, 4th degree. In May 1876, he was sent at the head of an embassy to Yakub-Bek of Kashgar to establish borders with Fergana.

At the beginning of 1877, Kuropatkin was at the main headquarters for a short time, and in July 1877 he was appointed chief officer for assignments under E.I.V. In September 1877 he was appointed chief of staff of the 16th infantry division, in which position he stayed until September 1878.

On September 6, 1878, he was appointed head of the Asian section of the main headquarters. From August 14, 1879 - commander of the Turkestan rifle brigade. In the Akhal-Teke expedition - the head of the vanguard of the Kuldzhinsky detachment (1880), from October 7, 1880 - the head of the Turkestan detachment (3 companies, 2 hundreds, 2 guns and 2 rocket launchers). Having made a difficult 18-day transition of 500 miles across the desert from Lake Chagyl to the Amu-Darya department to Bami, he joined the troops of General Skobelev, who acted against Geok-Tepe. During the assault on this fortress on January 12, 1881, Kuropatkin, commanding the main assault column (11 companies, 1 team, 9 guns), broke into the fortress along a mine fall, laying the foundation for the complete victory of the Russian troops. For this Kuropatkin was awarded the Order of St. George 3rd degree.

January 29, 1882 Kuropatkin was promoted to major general. In 1883-1890 he served in the General Staff.

In 1890 he was promoted to lieutenant general with the appointment of chief and commander of the troops of the Transcaspian region. Major results have been achieved during his administration of the region. From a desert country that had neither roads nor cities, with weak beginnings of trade and industry, with a semi-savage nomadic population that hunted robbery and robbery, the Trans-Caspian region turned into a well-organized region with developed agriculture, trade and industry. Through Kuropatkin's care, Russian schools arose, the judiciary was reformed, and numerous settlers from the interior provinces were attracted. In 1895, Kuropatkin was sent at the head of an emergency embassy to Tehran to inform the Shah of Persia about the accession to the throne of Nicholas II.

War Minister

On January 1, 1898, he was appointed manager of the War Department, and on July 1 of the same year - Minister of War, in which position he held until February 7, 1904. The main activities carried out during the management of Kuropatkin's military ministry were as follows.

As regards the officer corps, Kuropatkin set the task of improving the commanding staff of the army, as well as the conditions of service and life of officers: the maintenance of combat officers was significantly increased, apartment salaries were increased, the organization of officer meetings and economic societies was improved, measures were taken to rejuvenate the army by setting an age limit for combat officers and for candidates for higher positions, new rules for the production of ranks were introduced, which brought greater fairness and uniformity in the performance of service, and the rights of officers to leave were significantly expanded. Serious measures have been taken to raise the general level of education of the officer corps: the 2-year course of the cadet schools has been transformed into a 3-year course, 7 new cadet corps have been opened, courses for the training of educator officers have been established, the regulation on the Academy of the General Staff has been revised, changes have been made to its program, the staff of the academy was reworked and new buildings were erected. The terms for secondment of officers of the general staff to combat units have been increased.

General Alexei Nikolaevich Kuropatkin was born on March 17, 1848 in the Sheshurino estate in the Pskov province. His father was a retired captain. The military man gave his son an appropriate education, sending him first to the First Cadet Corps, and then to the Pavlovsk Military School, from which he graduated in 1866.

Military career

After graduating with the rank of lieutenant, the future General Kuropatkin went to Turkestan, where he served in the 1st Turkestan Rifle Battalion. Already at a young age, he took part in military sorties in the Kokand Khanate, and the Khiva campaign became a serious test for him. The first combat experience only reinforced the desire young man pursue a career in the military.

In 1871, Staff Captain Alexei Kuropatkin entered the Nikolaev Academy of the General Staff. He finished it educational institution first on the list. Having automatically got to the General Staff, Kuropatkin went on an international business trip, during which he visited France, Germany and even Algeria. In Africa, the officer took part in an expedition to the Sahara. He helped French army in suppressing the resistance of local rebels. For this, the military received the Order of the Legion of Honor. The impressions of the trip formed the basis of the book "Algeria", published in 1877.

In the service of the Fatherland

After the Nikolaev Academy, Kuropatkin was no longer a staff captain, but a captain. Returning to his homeland from Algeria, he voluntarily gave up his career in the General Staff and in 1875 again went to Turkestan. Meanwhile, the Kokand campaign against Putal-bek began there. The future General Kuropatkin was the first to enter the fortress of Uch-Kurgan, for which he received the Order of St. George, 4th degree. Its leader was Colonel Mikhail Skobelev, who commanded the forces of the Fergana region.

The second time they had to meet in the fields Russian-Turkish war 1877-1878 At this time, Aleksey Nikolaevich Kuropatkin already wore the rank of lieutenant colonel. He commanded the headquarters of the 16th Infantry Division, and the division itself was led by the same Skobelev. Together they took part in the battles near Plevna and Lovech. After the famous crossing of the Balkans, Kuropatkin wrote gratefully that he had learned a lot from Skobelev, first of all, boldness and determination. In the battle of Plevna, Alexei Nikolaevich was seriously wounded (a box full of charges exploded next to him) and was out of action.

After treatment and recovery, Kuropatkin did not work for long in the General Staff. In 1879 he took command of the 1st Turkestan Rifle Brigade. This was followed by a period of diplomatic and military missions in France, Iran and China. In 1880-1881. Kuropatkin participated in the Akhal-Teke campaign. After that, a seven-year period of work began at the General Staff, where the military man held various important positions.

From administrator to minister

Since 1890, Kuropatkin has been a lieutenant general. In this rank, he commanded the troops located in the Transcaspian region. Here the military man had to show his administrative abilities - the region was going through a serious Russification. Under his leadership, industry, trade, agriculture began to flourish in the region, villages and cities grew. The colonization of Transcaspia by Russian settlers began, for whose children special Russian schools were built.

Kuropatkin's administrative efficiency did not go unnoticed. In 1898 he was appointed Minister of War of Russia. General Kuropatkin held this position for six years, until the start of the war with Japan. Aleksey Nikolaevich met the campaign in the rank of adjutant general.

War with Japan

It was the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. became for Kuropatkin the main challenge of his entire career. Until the last moment, there were rumors that he would be made commander in chief at the very beginning of the conflict. However, Tsar Nicholas II appointed Admiral Alekseev to this position.

Kuropatkin was never his own man at the imperial court. The outbreak of war made it possible to make his resignation more honorable and smooth. In February 1904, the already former minister of war became commander of the important Manchurian army, and in October - commander-in-chief in the Far East instead of the failed Alekseev.

Even before this appointment, Kuropatkin faced a most serious test, which he mediocrely failed. It was the battle of Liaoyang, which began on August 24 and ended on September 3, 1904. It began with an artillery bombardment of Russian positions, arranged by the advanced units of Marshal Oyama. Then the Japanese made a swift throw and captured several important heights.

A new attack took place on the night of 26 August. The Japanese hit the 3rd Siberian and 10th Army Corps. A massive and furious assault on the Japanese ended in failure. They suffered very heavy losses on Mount Kustarnaya, where a significant number of soldiers came under fire from Russian artillerymen.

In the current situation, Kuropatkin could take an effective blow to the rear of the timid enemy. However, the general decided to retreat. His troops left the mountainous and hilly position convenient from the point of view of defense. The place of the battle was buried in pouring rain, the soldiers moved knee-deep in sticky mud, losing artillery and dying horses.

The battle of Liaoyang showed high level Japanese intelligence. Using accurate data on the movement of the enemy, Marshal Oyama did not interfere with the Russians, expecting that their tactical miscalculation would only benefit him. The Japanese waited out a terrible downpour in tents.

However, in the following days, despite the uncomfortable positions, the Russian units successfully repelled more and more new attacks. On September 20, Oyama began to prepare for the retreat. Kuropatkin was ahead of him by several hours. He was afraid of a flank coverage that the Japanese could not even dream of, and was the first to leave his position, moving towards Mukden.

Oyama did not pursue the Russians, fearing that they had prepared some complex and not entirely clear maneuver. However, the Japanese were soon even more surprised when they got the Liaoyang left by Kuropatkin for no reason. Here they captured significant stocks of equipment, clothing, food, shells. All these things were brought to the Far East from European Russia and were supposed to help in the operation to unblock Port Arthur. However, due to the indecision of General Kuropatkin, all these strategic plans were left in the past.

Battle on the Shah

The next major battle for General Kuropatkin was the battle on the Shakh River (also called the Shakhei battle). The battle began on October 5 and ended on October 17, 1904. The king was dissatisfied with the failure at Liaoyang and demanded that Kuropatkin attack the forces of Marshal Oyama.

The attack lasted two days. Then the Japanese command decided to seize the strategic initiative. On October 10, it launched its own counteroffensive. The main blow fell on the 10th and 17th army corps. The battles went on with varying success. After several days of confrontation, both armies began to strengthen their positions. The resulting front stretched for 60 kilometers. For military art, this was a completely new phenomenon, which later became commonplace during the First World War. As a result of attacks and counterattacks, none of the sides fulfilled their tasks.

Battle near Sandepu

End of service and final years

In July 1916, Kuropatkin was sent to Turkestan, which he already knew, where he became the governor-general and commander of the troops. In this rank, he met the February Revolution. The new government retained his position, confirming it with a special telegram. However, to his misfortune, General Kuropatkin, whose awards were of little interest to anyone, came into conflict with the council of soldiers' and workers' deputies of Tashkent. The commander was first placed under house arrest, and then, deprived of his post, sent to Petrograd.

In the summer of 1917, the Alexander Committee for the Wounded worked with all its might. Having experience in caring for disabled officers, General Kuropatkin also joined. After the revolution, he returned to his native Pskov province, where he lived the rest of his old age. Alexey Nikolaevich organized a rural school and managed a local library, in which he placed his own significant funds. Later, his materials, including those left after work on a book about the Russo-Japanese War, were transferred to the Russian State Military Historical Archive. Alexei Kuropatkin died on January 16, 1925 at the age of 76.

Awards

For heroism and courage near Plevna in 1878, Kuropatkin received a golden saber marked "For Courage", as well as the Order of St. Anna and St. Stanislav, 2nd degree. After the war with Turkey, he also received many foreign awards. Among them was the Order of the Cross of Takov presented by the Serbian authorities. At the same time, Kuropatkin received the medal "For Courage" from Montenegro. Later from Balkan countries he also received the Order of the Star of Romania, as well as the Order of Saint Alexander of Bulgaria.

For a failed Russo-Japanese War Kuropatkin received no awards. But in the 1890s he was awarded the Order of the White Eagle and the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky. On the eve of the war with Japan, special diamond signs were added to this award, demonstrating the special merits of the general to the state.

 A. N. KUROPATKIN

70 YEARS OF MY LIFE

FROM THE MEMORIES OF GENERAL A. N. KUROPATKIN

1867 - 1882 The attention of readers is offered an excerpt from the memoirs "70 years of my life", written in 1914 - 1924. former Minister of War of Russia (1898 - 1904), General of Infantry A. N. Kuropatkin (1848 - 1925). The full text of the memoirs is stored in the form of a manuscript in the Russian State Military Historical Archive (RGVIA) in the personal fund of A. N. Kuropatkin (f. 165).

In the memoirs of A. N. Kuropatkin, Central Asia occupies a prominent place, since out of the 40 years he devoted to military service, 20 he served in Turkestan. For the first time Kuropatkin came to Central Asia as a young lieutenant, having received in 1866 an assignment to the 1st Turkestan rifle battalion. In 1867 - 1868. he participated in battles with the troops of the Emir of Bukhara, receiving the Order of St. Stanislav and St. Anna 3rd class with swords and a bow, as well as regular military ranks- lieutenant (1868) and staff captain (1870). Then Kuropatkin served at the headquarters of the Turkestan military district, participated in the Kokand campaign of 1875-1876, for which he was awarded the Order of St. George 4th degree. On August 14, 1879, he was appointed commander of the Turkestan Rifle Brigade; in 1880, already in the rank of colonel, he leads the vanguard of the Kuldzha detachment during a campaign in Xinjiang; in 1880 - 1881 at the head of the Turkestan detachment, he participates in the Akhal-Teke expedition against the Turkmen tribes. For the capture of the Geok-Tepe fortress on January 12, 1881, Kuropatkin was awarded the Order of St. George 3rd degree, and a year later he received the rank of major general.

On March 27, 1890, Kuropatkin, with the rank of lieutenant general, was appointed head of the Transcaspian region (the territory of modern Turkmenistan). In this position for about 8 years, he proved himself to be a capable administrator. Under his leadership, Russian schools were created in the region, and judicial reform was carried out. Much attention was paid to them to attract immigrants from Russia, to develop agriculture, industry and trade in the region. Under him, new cities and villages arose in the Transcaspian region.

The last time Kuropatkin arrived in Turkestan was in 1916, having been appointed to the post of governor-general of the region. Here he led the suppression of the Central Asian uprising of 1916. At the same time, he developed projects for the reorganization of the administration of Turkestan. But he failed to carry out these projects. In March 1917, under pressure from the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies, the Provisional Government removed Kuropatkin from office. Being retired in his estate Sheshurino near Pskov, Kuropatkin closely followed the events taking place in Turkestan. His memoirs contain assessments of the civil war in the region, the policies of the Soviet government in Turkestan, and noteworthy characteristics of Turkestan politicians.

The published chapter from the memoirs of Kuropatkin characterizes the activities of the first governor-general of Turkestan K. P. Kaufman. The Turkestan Governor General was created in 1867 simultaneously with the formation of the Turkestan military district. It included part of the territories of modern Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. The first governor-general of the region and the commander of the district troops was engineer-general K.P. Kaufman (1867 - 1882).

Author long years served in Central Asia under his command, knew Kaufman well personally, treated him and his activities with respect and sympathy. Kuropatkin describes the reforms carried out by Kaufman (agrarian, administrative), measures for the development of industry, agriculture, trade, public education and their consequences up to 1917. He notes the respectful attitude of the first Turkestan Governor-General to the customs, customs, religion, way of life of the population , the preservation of the traditional judicial, religious and lower administrative bodies of the peoples of Central Asia. Kuropatkin contrasts Kaufman's policy aimed at the development and gradual integration of Turkestav into the Russian Empire with the activities of the subsequent rulers of the region, which led to the Central Asian uprising of 1916.

Of course, the content of Kuropatkin's memoirs must be approached critically. Himself an active participant in the conquest of Central Asia, the author idealizes the image of Kaufman in his memoirs. The latter was not only a talented and intelligent administrator and politician, but also a cruel colonizer. You can’t erase Kaufman’s repressions against the peoples of Turkestan from history (Kuropatkin himself was forced to mention this in passing), the liquidation of the Kokand Khanate, the transformation of the Emirate of Bukhara and the Khanate of Khiva into vassal pseudo-states dependent on the Russian Empire. However, all of the above does not detract, in our opinion, the value of General Kuropatkin's memoirs as a source on the history of the policy of the tsarist government in Central Asia and Kazakhstan, Russia's relations with neighboring states and peoples, life, traditions and culture of the peoples of Central Asia in the second half of the 19th - early 20th centuries .

The text of the passage is transmitted according to the rules of modern spelling, while maintaining the stylistic features of the original.

The publication was prepared by IV Karpeev, Candidate of Historical Sciences.

From the memoirs of A. N. Kuropatkin "70 years of my life"

The years 1867 - 1871 were of particular importance for the Turkestan region. The foundation was laid for the organization of the region in civil terms; the relations of the Russian authorities to the native population, their property, religion, mores and customs were determined. Instead of random and varied orders of the first persons appointed during the conquest of various points of the region, directly from the ranks, the chiefs of the native population developed a control system, approved a temporary regulation on the management of the Turkestan region, supplemented by instructions and rules.

With the conquest of the Central Asian possessions by the Russians, thanks to the foresight and familiarity with the local conditions of the conquerors of Central Asia, especially General Kaufman 1 , the Russians laid in the basis of the management of the natives several principles that were fully justified by the results obtained.

We present below the most important of them;

1. Decree in Central Asia to a special height of the Russian tribe [So in the text.]

A handful of our troops smashed superior forces. This visible, understandable superiority helped the population to assimilate the view of the Russian as a being, as it were, of a higher rank than the native.

The punishments for the soldiers and Cossacks killed during the peace were particularly severe. If the perpetrator was not found, then the entire male population of the village where the murdered person was found was sometimes brought to justice. By immediately taking harsh measures, the Russian authorities in Turkestan achieved the fact that the cases of killing our soldiers and Cossacks became very rare.

We acted contrary to the idea of ​​equality, but in Central Asia, where a handful of Russian soldiers kept a vast region in complete calm, this inequality was necessary and inevitable.

2. Humanitarian attitude and trust in the natives immediately after winning a victory over them

The complete gentleness of the Russian officer and soldier allowed us in Asia, as soon as the battle was over, to treat the conquered population humanely. All old scores with a defeated enemy were considered settled. He became a Russian subject and our younger brother. His faith, life, property, customs were respected. He was trusted.

Commanding persons set an example of giving confidence to the defeated enemy.

3. Organization of power over the native population, most appropriate to its customs and customs

The native settled population of Central Asia was accustomed to the strong power of the beks and other rulers, who, by authority from the emirs and khans, united military, administrative and judicial power in their hands.

The main provisions of the structure of the newly formed Turkestan Governor-General were adopted:

The inseparability of military and administrative power and its combination in the region in one hand;

The provision of internal government of the native population in all matters not of a political nature, elected from among the people themselves, applying to their mores and customs.

The establishment for the population of the power of the chiefs of districts, who combined administrative and judicial power, and in some cases even military power, fully corresponded to the concepts of the population and met their needs.

The financial position of the heads of the counties was so secure that it was possible to appoint to this position with a good choice.

Of course, there were sad exceptions, but, in general, representatives of the military and people's administration in the Turkestan region during the reign of General Kaufman from 1868 to 1881 can be proud of the work they performed to convert the population that had just been subjugated by force of arms into faithful, hardworking and calm Russians. subjects.

4. The caring attitude of the Turkestan authorities to economic situation masses of the native population

During the conquest of Turkestan, senior military commanders, especially General Kaufman, persistently sought to ensure that the troops treated the inhabitants without violence and, most importantly, paid for all the food they took in cash.

With the occupation of certain points, the Russian authorities took measures so that the food of the troops would benefit the local residents. Measures were taken to ensure that between the soldier's mouth and the manufacturer of the product needed by the soldier, if possible, there were no intermediaries, or perhaps a limited number of them.

Measures were taken so that immediately after the end of hostilities, local residents could peacefully engage in agricultural work. The land and water that belonged to them were reserved for them. The necessary areas for the deployment of troops and urban settlements were taken, if possible, from among those belonging to khans, emirs, beks or persons of the military class who did not submit, but fled.

Local trade was supported and protected by all measures.

Complete safety of movement along the routes of transportation of goods was achieved with amazing speed. The entire postal route of 2,000 miles between Tashkent and Orenburg was made by unarmed passengers, women and children, without any escort. Fairs and bazaars were supported.

In the entire vast Kyrgyz steppe, complete calm was established. The unarmed Kirghiz moved in separate wagons without any fear of being robbed.

Konstantin Petrovich strove with particular care to resolve the land issue. In the draft report of General Kaufman from 1867 to 1881. lands were different.

a) State lands, subject to state land taxes of various kinds. These are the so-called amlaky earths, which constituted the main type of land use.

b) Private property lands, milky. They were in the use of the population, but the taxable population paid all the taxes from them not to the khans or emirs, but to the owners of the milk.

c) reserved lands, "waqf", were free from state taxation, either completely or in part, depending on the conditions indicated in the acts. Vakf estates were bequeathed for religious purposes. General Kaufman wrote:

“The transformation was based on the approval of the actual use of the land, which was established in the region on the lands of amlyaks (taxed with state fees) on the right of permanent use. On this broad beginning, in addition to land ownership of the amlyak, it seemed natural from the point of view of native law to approve the settlers who directly cultivate the soil, and all those plots from among the lands of the waqf and milk, for which the privileged farmers do not have acts, in accordance with Sharia decrees approved by the subject government power."

The inspection was carried out rigorously, and a lot of land, especially in the Fergana region, was assigned to those who actually cultivated it.

Along with this, Kaufman took steps to ensure that new privileged owners of the land could not appear.

Thus, the opposite of what Count Vorontsov did in the Caucasus 2 , General Kaufman took steps to democratize the land, limiting where possible the land claims of the local aristocratic class and clergy. The agricultural population working on these lands was, so to speak, liberated.

The rapid increase in demand for cotton and dry fruits caused an influx of money into Turkestan, which at first fell into the hands of the productive class of the population. Together with the tranquility of the native population, an unprecedented prosperity appeared to them.

Thus, in his organizing activity, Konstantin Petrovich Kaufman adopted grounds that, first of all, were supposed to reconcile the native population with their loss of independence.

Instead of a constant state of war and internal strife, the Russian government gave peace to the population.

Instead of the constant danger of being robbed while moving, there is the safe movement of even single travelers on all roads.

Instead of constant fear that not only the products of labor, but the property itself would be arbitrarily selected by the khan, emir or beks, the Russian authorities were tasked with achieving a peaceful use of each of their property and the results of their labor.

Instead of taxes and levies, which, for example, amounted to payment in kind for landowners of up to half of all products of agricultural labor, V.P. Kaufman considered it necessary to ensure that all fees did not exceed the value of ten percent of the total amount of products collected.

In the land question, Konstantin Petrovich pursued democratic principles. When we came to the region, the native population partly sat on the lands of large proprietors and on the lands of the waqfs belonging to the Muslim clergy. Those who sat on the lands of large owners or on lands transferred by emirs and khans for life use to various dignitaries, had to pay under the khans not the decimal tax established by Muslim custom, but an incomparably larger part of the harvest, sometimes even more than half. K. P. Kaufman tried to get these people to pay as much as the owners of the land paid, that is, a tenth of the harvest.

The agrarian reform, in which the land would be owned only by the one who cultivates it, due to the difficulty of implementation, had to require a lot of time and labor and was carried out by K. P. Kaufman in part.

The customs and customs of the native population were not to be violated. Special care was required in the matter of religion. The freedom of Muslim belief was preserved, but K. P. Kaufman recognized the need to fight against the activities of the Muslim clergy, which had a political nature: preaching (on a religious lining) the struggle against the infidels. In these types, Kaufman considered unacceptable the centralization of representatives of the clergy in the regions and especially in the whole region in any spiritual institutions, councils. One of the means to weaken the harmful influence of the Muslim clergy was recognized as limiting the income of Muslims, limiting, among other things, the rights to land and seizing, where it seemed possible, waqf lands from the clergy to transfer them into the hands of the agricultural population.

The native school had a completely confessional (spiritual) character. There was no reason to encourage her. K. P. Kaufman considered it necessary to ignore this school, and where it seemed possible, with a decrease in the income of the clergy, to contribute to the closure by the population of certain mektabs (lower school) and especially madrasah (higher school).

At the same time, Kaufman recognized the need to help the native population by all means to better use the natural resources of the region.

The growth of the welfare of the natives, according to Konstantin Petrovich, most likely could reconcile them with Russian rule in Central Asia.

To carry out the above program into practice, it was necessary to select reliable employees for K. P. Kaufman in all areas, all departments of organizational activity. But Russia 50 years ago was even less rich than it is today with forces capable of selflessly, honestly, skillfully and systematically applying their labor to the building of the conquered land. Therefore, not all appointments were successful, and Konstantin Petrovich had to be disappointed in many of the persons he had chosen.

In the Semirechensk region in Kolpakovsky 3 and in the Zeravshan district in Abramov 4 Konstantin Petrovich found individuals who were fully consistent with the work that was entrusted to them. But in the Syr-Darya region, so to speak, in front of Kaufman, his first closest assistants did not justify his trust. General Golovachev 5 in the role of military governor, he turned out to be weak, lazy and poorly prepared in his outlook for broad administrative activities. An excellent regimental commander, an excellent military commander, he turned out to be only a mediocre military governor who overlooked the fact that great abuses were taking place in Kuraminsky district before his eyes.

The first manager of the office of the Governor General, General Gomzin 6 , inflated, with great conceit, was a thunderstorm of petty officials, an accurate clerk, but in his development and horizons he could not be an assistant to K. P. Kaufman. He was soon pushed aside for the conduct of the organizational nature of affairs by his assistant chamber junker Savenkov. 7 . This young official, ambitious and greedy, smart, quick to grasp, earned the special trust of Konstantin Petrovich. Always correct, polite, calm, authoritative, very personable in appearance, Savenkov could indeed present himself as a person of complete ideas. Turned out to be a scammer.

Head of the city of Tashkent Medinsky 8 , despite his not entirely favorable reputation on the issue of extortion from the population, conducted his affairs in such a way that it was not possible to formulate a definite accusation against him. Meanwhile, the native population of the city was calm, rich and did not complain. His assistant Pukalov 9 or, as we all called him, "Manichka", was taken from the sapper troops and was an honest person, very friendly to the Russian and native population, kind, hospitable, but little capable and little independent. Colonel Kolzakov was appointed head of the Kuraminsky district 10 . An old Caucasian officer, made from junkers, poorly educated and devoid of moral qualifications, this was a very suspicious person. But Koleakov showed a rare diligence, energy, resourcefulness and abilities were great. He had an exceptional talent for showing the goods with his face, "rubbing glasses in the eyes of the authorities." In his hands, all representatives of the native population of the Kuraminsky (Tashkent) district were silk. He disposed of them arbitrarily, wherever K.P. Kaufman went, in the Kuraminsky district he met “amanlyk and tynshlyk” (peace and silence). The natives bowed low to Kaufman, called him akpadishah (half of the king), assured him of their well-being, of the justice of their superiors, and of their love for him. All this was adjusted in advance and the truth was shielded from Kaufman.

But there were truly noble ideological people around Kaufman, who helped him break through the veil of lies and showed this truth. Among them was Colonel Raevsky 11 .

Kolzakov, in order to prove to Kaufman how quickly civilization was penetrating into the Muslim milieu under his rule, reported to him that some noble native women of Turkestan were already taking off their veils and walking around with an open face. In response to Kaufman's expressed doubts, Kolzakov volunteered to invite some of them on behalf of Kaufman to a ball given by Kaufman at his governor-general's palace.

Indeed, among the numerous society gathered by the hospitable host, a group of young native women appeared, modest, dressed in their national costumes, with open faces. Among those invited were also honorary representatives of the native population, in rich costumes, important, serious, gray-bearded. Kaufman was very pleased with such a visible success of his administration of the region and, in memory of the first presence in his house of native women who decided to reveal their faces, he presented them with silver, the so-called "gift things", mainly goblets with the inscription "from the Turkestan Governor-General".

The next day, Raevsky appeared to Konstantin Petrovich and reported that the natives brought to Kaufman to the ball - women with open faces - were not noble Sartyan women. 12 , and the inhabitants of brothels hired by Kolzakov. To prove his accusation, Raevsky presented to Kaufman all the items he had donated, bought out by Raevsky. At the same time, it became clear that Kolzakov did not at all take into account the rules on spending state funds, interfered with state funds with his personal ones, and spent a lot of money coming from the population on his personal representativeness.

Another blow, even more unexpected, awaited Kaufman in relation to Savenkov's activities.

K.P. Kaufman, who attached great importance to the development of horse breeding in the Turkestan region, was informed that for the implementation of this undertaking, there are vast vacant lands near Tashkent, that they can be easily irrigated and, having transferred on preferential terms to private individuals, their initiative to create in the region horse breeding. There was also a draft charter of the society, shares and so on. Kaufman was very sympathetic to this matter and, in view of the signature on various representations of General Golovachev, gave permission for the alienation of the areas indicated to him. The case was huge. I don’t remember now where, perhaps through the same Raevsky, Kaufman got the news that he was blatantly deceived, that the lands he had allowed to alienate to a large extent belong to cultivated lands, on which a large population is already sitting, who are being driven off their lands and in vain seeks protection against the created violence.

K. P. Kaufman appointed an inquiry, which found out the complete veracity of the report received by him. Then Kaufman showed firmness and demanded punishment for the guilty without any leniency. Golovachev was eliminated due to the inaction of the authorities, Kolzakov was removed from command in the district, and Savenkov, the main culprit, was exiled with the deprivation of his ranks into exile in Siberia. Abuses were not heard in other districts of the Syr-Darya region, and some of the officials of the military people's administration earned a good reputation from both the Russian and the native population.

In the Semirechensk region, General Kolpakovsky declared himself an outstanding administrator and enjoyed wide popularity.

In the Zeravshan district, General Abramov selected for himself several assistants who were outstanding in devotion to the cause, skillful treatment of the natives and honesty, did not hesitate to take on responsible positions of young officers, and the newly annexed areas came to rest and quickly erased the traces of the recent bloody struggle with productive labor.

KP Kaufman paid special attention to the development of cotton growing in the region, sent specialists to America to find the best seeds for the region, and achieved outstanding results in this regard.

Care was also taken to better use the favorable conditions of the region for the development of horticulture and sericulture.

Colonel of the General Staff Korolkov brought a special unforgettable gardening service to the region. 13 . For sericulture, stations have been set up to obtain healthy grena and the planting of mulberry trees has been increased.

By establishing better control over the consumption of waters that had already irrigated cultivated areas, and by improving the irrigation system itself, it became possible to significantly expand the areas of crops and gardens. Indeed, the tranquility that had settled in the region and the establishment of higher prices for agricultural labor and the products of this labor were reflected in an extremely rapid rise in the agricultural activity of the population. In particular, the cultural area surrounding Tashkent grew.

Kaufman was the first to draw attention to the possibility of irrigating a vast area of ​​the Hungry Steppe. Preliminary surveys were entrusted to technologist Ulyanov, whom I wrote about above. The poverty of funds for all kinds of research in the region was so great that Ulyanov arranged a self-made level in our workshop, with which he did the work. The result was the determination of the possibility, taking water from the Syr Darya, slightly below the city of Khujand [Now Khujand.] to irrigate the steppe with canals that covered the desert almost to the middle of the steppe near Murza-Rabat. Work on the canal began under Konstantin Petrovich. Later work confirmed the correctness of Ulyanov's research. The desert began to come to life.

When for the last time in 1916 I drove around the Hungry Steppe from Khujand by car, I was surprised at the results already achieved. The terrible desert, which buried many victims, began to turn into a fruitful area, promising in the future to become a source of enormous wealth in cotton, horticulture, horticulture, and the culture of medicinal plants.

Quite a significant amount has already settled in the Hungry Steppe. Russian population. Some new settlers received in the very first years of work from the plots allotted to them several thousand rubles a year for cotton, but the struggle is not yet over. The first huge harvests were followed by crop failures due to salt overhang. The plots were abandoned. Entire villages moved from place to place, and now there is a struggle to find means to leach the salt that has risen from the inner layers of the earth. But the main thing has already been done: water has been installed and its quantity will be increased several times by new works. An indelible impression on us, the old Turkestans, who passed through the Hungry Steppe several times on a military campaign, is made by the appearance of the main canals, deep, pleasing to the eye with an even line of surface, cutting through the steppe for many tens of miles.

Stopping in 1916 near the place of work at one of the dividers, I saw how the watchman at the divider was catching a rather large fish in the canal.

The export from Turkestan of cotton, important for the Russian population, increased rapidly every year. The export of dry fruits began to take on vast proportions.

Calmness in the steppe influenced the rapid increase in the herds of nomads and was reflected in the revival of the exchange of livestock products for agricultural products and the export of cattle, wool, kosh to European Russia. [So in the text.] , ropes and more. Great service to the region was brought by independent work on the irrigation of the Hungry Steppe by Grand Duke Nikolai Konstantinovich 14 . The first Russian settlements appeared on the canal, built under his personal supervision and at his expense.

The cultural growth of the region was hampered by the lack of well-maintained means of communication. One of the first concerns of K. P. Kaufman was the arrangement of the correct postal message around the entire edge. Such a path appeared from Orenburg to Tashkent in one direction and through the city of Verny [Now Almaty.] to Sergiopol [Now Ayatuz.] to another.

Russian entrepreneurs in various activities were given broad support. Their activities were particularly successful in winemaking. Extensive enterprises appeared: Pervushin, Ivanov, Filatov. Turkestan got cheap wine; there were also vodka and beer factories and other factory enterprises. In Khojent and the district began to develop coal. On a private initiative, the first wooden bridge was built across the Syr Darya.

Gymnasiums and real schools were founded in Tashkent and other cities. A foundation was laid for the preparation of folk teachers for Russian-native schools in the teacher's seminary. A telegraph was built connecting Turkestan with European Russia.

Simultaneously with the vigorous activity on the device of the region, numerous scientific expeditions were carried out, surveys were made.

Embassies were sent. Famous scientists: Severtsev 15 , Semenov 16 , Fedchenko 17 , Mushketov 18 received the widest support.

In a short list, it is difficult to enumerate all the undertakings of Konstantin Petrovich in the first years of his administration of the Turkestan region, but there is no doubt that it was in the first years that they laid a solid foundation for all his 14-year fruitful activities in the Turkestan region.

Working fruitfully in the civilian part, Konstantin Petrovich laid the foundation for a solid device in the Turkestan region and the military unit. Under him, a significant increase in the troops of the Turkestan region followed, giving them a harmonious organization, introducing systematic training, providing them with good barracks, providing them with all kinds of allowances, and their sanitary condition was very significantly improved. Konstantin Petrovich treated the troops extremely carefully, cordially and skillfully; preserving and strengthening the traditions already acquired by the troops in the first campaigns, at the same time he taught to save the strength of a soldier and officer, to protect their health. He instilled in everyone the consciousness of the need to take care of every soldier, to keep every soldier on record. In the absence of a railway, the staffing of the troops of Turkestan was extremely difficult. I had to go from Samara by dirt roads for almost 2 1/2 thousand miles. This already created an urgent need to maintain the available composition of the troops without heavy losses in the sick and those who died of disease. What Konstantin Petrovich found upon his arrival in the region in 1867 could not but horrify him. Almost a third of the troops lay in hospitals, and in separate battalions, as, for example, in the second line, 3/4 of the staff were sick. It was to this side of the life of the troops that he first of all drew attention. Particularly harmful in sanitary terms, parking lots were abandoned. Investigations were carried out on the soreness of the troops at all points, starting from Tashkent. One of the main causes of morbidity was the swampiness of the area, which gave rise to fevers. Where the irrigation system improved, so did disease. Earthworks, especially the removal of the first layer of earth, caused frequent outbreaks of disease. In the same way, the work of the lower ranks in the water, the preparation of bricks, for which it was necessary to knead the clay, increased the incidence. The morbidity occurred especially from the consumption of raw water and the consumption of large quantities of raw fruits.

The introduction of tea allowances into the soldier's diet and the strict requirement that there be kvass and that only boiled water be used in the troops, the incidence decreased. The troops had a bedding felt, which, both on the spot and especially in the campaign, preserved the strength and health of people. By all these measures, the number of sick people quickly decreased, especially when dry, bright, well-ventilated, although not luxurious barracks appeared. Together with measures to reduce the number of cases, measures were taken to improve their treatment. In Tashkent and other places, good infirmary buildings were built, and near the troops and in their state-owned location - districts or emergency rooms for examining the lower ranks and quarters for a few days of those who were easily ill. K. P. Kaufman personally monitored the movement of morbidity among the troops and sounded the alarm if the incidence unexpectedly increased in one or another part of the troops.

The food of the troops with the development of horticulture became more diverse. Appeared in sufficient quantities of cabbage, beetroot and potatoes. Wherever Kaufman was, he tasted the food of the troops and rewarded the cooks if the food was especially well prepared. The commanders of units, troops, whose sanitary condition was good, he encouraged.

Various points of the region were fortified and reinforced with artillery. Trusting the native population, Kaufman took measures so that in the event of possible further hostilities, with the withdrawal of troops on a campaign, the remaining weak garrisons in settlements could maintain calm in them. The correct camp fees have been established. Camp barracks have been set up. The troops got the opportunity to study both separately for the types of weapons, and together with other types of weapons. Sufficient shooting ranges and areas have been allocated for the occupation of troops. A small naval force appeared on the Syr-Darya River, but it was not possible to establish the correct navigation on this river by steamboats.

Under Konstantin Petrovich, the Russian non-military population increased significantly in all settled areas and development was given to the formation of Russian agricultural settlements in the Syr-Darya region and especially in Semirechensk.

Tashkent was quickly built up and began to be decorated with rather solid buildings, both private and government. With the rapid growth of the trees planted along the new streets, after a few years the entire Russian city seemed from a distance to be a vast flowering oasis.

During these first years of the organization of the region, life in it was in full swing. Revival reigned everywhere, not only in Russian, but also in the native city.

As a hospitable host, Konstantin Petrovich quite often gathered a large company in his house, and the balls arranged by him several times a year are memorable for all Turkestans by the liveliness, hospitality of the host, excellent music, and plentiful refreshments. They had fun with all their hearts, and up to 200 and even 300 people gathered for such a ball. The chief assistants followed Kaufman's example, and extensive hospitality in the family homes of the time was practiced by many.

Street life is also very lively. When the heat subsided, along Kaufmanovskaya Street, which constituted the main artery, the most diverse audience moved: officers, officials, ladies, children, natives. Kiosks selling various waters, ice cream, and fruits have appeared in several places. Native merchants near the sidewalks stood with stalls of fruits and sweets and called passers-by. Several restaurants were at the service of the public. Billiards appeared at the service of fans. The theater building was under construction. An amateur troupe was formed, and then visiting artists began to appear individually and in troupes. The first visiting circus appeared, which was a huge success with the natives.

Mental requests were satisfied by the local newspaper "Turkestanskie Vedomosti" 19 . The foundation of an extensive library, museum, and observatory was laid. But the mail arrived with a huge delay, and, for example, newspapers from St. Petersburg were received on the third, and sometimes on the fourth week after their publication. The representation of the head of the region was large and necessary for the newly created order. As I said above, the natives called Kaufman an ardent padishah, which means half of the king, and indeed the power of the governor-general of that time was enormous. It was granted to him to declare war on his neighbors, to make peace, and he was granted to give organization to the newly conquered areas until the approval of the regulation on the administration of the Turkestan region on the basis that were approved by Kaufman in temporary regulations and states.

Very significant sums received from the population of the Zeravshan district were at the complete disposal of Konstantin Petrovich for several years. The detour of the region by Konstantin Petrovich Kaufman, where he had to deal with the native population, was furnished with a certain solemnity and pomp. The receptions of the embassies from Bukhara were also furnished with the preservation of local customs, but in such a way that the ambassadors in the person of Konstantin Petrovich could see the powerful ruler of Turkestan, invested with the full confidence of the sovereign. Konstantin Petrovich traveled to the city of Tashkent, for the most part, accompanied by a significant retinue, an escort hundred and a special badge that they carried for him.

RGVIA. F. 165. Op. 1. D. 1742. L. 92 - 106. Original. Typescript with author's correction.