The United States is a longtime strategic enemy of our country. It would seem that the United States and Russia have little in common. But in fact, even such a large-scale event in American history as the Civil War did not go without the participation of the Russians. Now the United States is overwhelmed by the fashion of revising its own history. Monuments to American civil war generals and officers are being demolished and relocated across the country. Meanwhile, there were Russians among them, and one Russian officer managed to rise to the rank of general in the American army and make his (very tangible) contribution to the history of the American Civil War.
When, back in 1822, on the Don, in the family of a Cossack by birth and retired major Vasily Nikolaevich Turchaninov, a son Ivan was born, no one could have imagined that forty years later he would be able not only to reach the rank of general, but to get it in a foreign army, and even in the army of a country so distant, at that time, from Russia as the United States of America. In fact, there was nothing surprising in the fact that another representative of the old Cossack family of the Turchaninovs would achieve fame in the military field. It was a military family, in which almost all men fought and served. For example, Pavel Petrovich Turchaninov rose to the rank of lieutenant general in the Russian imperial army and was the closest associate of Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov. Andrey Petrovich Turchaninov also received the rank of lieutenant general,also participated in the war with Napoleon.
It is clear that a military career was also "registered" for Ivan Turchaninov. At the age of ten, in 1832, he entered the First Cadet Corps in St. Petersburg, then in 1835 he transferred to Novocherkassk - to the military classical gymnasium, and in 1843, at the age of 21, he received a military education at the Mikhailovsky Artillery School. The diligent young officer was assigned to the Imperial Guard and served in the Life Guard of the Don Cossack Horse-Artillery Battery.
In 1848, a young officer participated in the suppression of a popular uprising in Hungary. Then it was for the suppression of this uprising that European revolutionaries called Nicholas I "the gendarme of Europe." In 1852, Ivan Turchaninov graduated from the Nikolaev Academy of the General Staff with a silver medal, joining the elite of the Russian imperial army. He participated in the Crimean War of 1853-1856. It was Ivan Turchaninov who carried out a topographic survey of the Baltic coast, for which he not only received the order, but was also promoted to the guards colonel. By 1856, 34-year-old Colonel Ivan Turchaninov was serving as chief of staff for a corps in Poland. It seemed that his further military career would be cloudless - for a few more years, and the colonel could well rise to the rank of general in the Russian imperial army.
However, Ivan Vasilievich Turchaninov was not an ordinary officer. In addition to his own military career, he was also interested in the future of Russia. Turchaninov thought a lot about what form of political and social structure would suit the Russian state. It is known that he was in correspondence with Alexander Herzen himself. For a Guards Colonel, and even at that time, this was very unusual and risky. Turchaninov criticized serfdom and believed that Russia should follow the path of democratization. Apparently, in the end he realized that he needed to either leave the country, or, sooner or later, he would simply be arrested. In 1856, Colonel Ivan Turchaninov, together with his wife Nadezhda, left the Russian Empire.
A young political emigrant from Russia arrived in the United States of America. Here he changed his name - now the Russian colonel, immediately after the departure from the Russian military service, was called Mr. John Basil Turchin, and his wife was Mrs. Nadine Turchin. At first, the Russian emigrant tried to take up farming, but quickly went bankrupt, after which he entered an engineering school, and his wife was educated at a medical school. After playing the role of an American student and graduating from college, the former Russian colonel began working as an engineer on the Illinois Railroad. The man who was part of the Russian military elite began his journey to the United States at the age of 34 and practically from scratch. However, as a talented specialist, and here the Russian officer found an application for himself and won the respect of the Americans. John Turchin quickly became close to representatives of the "high society", for example, he personally met the lawyer Abraham Lincoln.
Turchaninov went to America under the influence of idealistic ideas - many Russian liberals and democrats of that time saw in the United States an example of perhaps the best state. But, faced with American realities, Turchaninov quickly became disillusioned with the political and social structure of the United States. He reported this in his letters to Herzen. Turchaninov saw colossal social inequality, permissiveness for the rich, and a high crime rate. All of this ran counter to the ideas of life in North America that prevailed in democratic circles. And, nevertheless, Turchaninov did not regret that he came to America - here he, as he himself reported in one of his letters, became a "mere mortal", an ordinary man - an engineer.
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When the war between the northern and southern states began, Ivan Turchaninov could not stay away from such large-scale military and political events. He decided to use his military experience and applied for enlistment in the army of the northern states. Since the American army experienced a great shortage of qualified commanders, the former colonel of the Russian Imperial Army, and even personally acquainted with Lincoln, was immediately recruited into the rank of colonel and appointed commander of the 19th Illinois Infantry Regiment. So the Russian emigrant was entrusted with an entire American regiment. The soldiers and officers of the regiment had to approve the commander from two candidates - Ulysses Grant and John Turchin. The choice of personnel was made in favor of the Russian officer. Colonel Ulysses Grant, in turn, was appointed commander of the 21st Infantry Regiment. Nadin Turchin was also enrolled in the military service - she, as having a medical education, was appointed a military doctor.
Under the command of Colonel Turchin, the 19th Illinois Infantry Regiment quickly became one of the most efficient units in the American army. After all, Turchaninov was a professional military man with an excellent education - the Mikhailovsky Artillery School, then the Academy of the General Staff. There were few such officers in the American army. Turchaninov quickly established excellent discipline and combat training. In a strict, but fair and talented commander, the soldiers doted. Colonel Turchin was soon appointed commander of a brigade of four regiments. Under his command, the brigade performed many glorious feats. At first, the higher command could not get enough of the successes of the brigade commanded by Turchin, however, the commander himself, as his influence on the personnel grew,began to play an increasingly independent role.
Therefore, almost immediately, problems began in the relations of Colonel Turchin with higher-ranking officials of the army of the northerners. Turchin's regiment was part of the Ohio Army, commanded by Major General Don Carlos Buell. This American officer was one of the few slave-owning generals in the army of the northerners. He saw nothing reprehensible in the possession of slaves, and it was on this basis that a serious conflict arose between Major General Buell and Colonel Turchin.
The fact is that Turchin, who adhered to democratic convictions, provided refuge in the brigade to all Negro slaves who fled from the slave owners and turned to him for protection. Disgruntled slave owners complained to their higher command. Moreover, without an order, Colonel Turchin took Nashville and Huntsville, and in Athens, Alabama, the soldiers of one of the brigade's units nevertheless violated discipline and committed acts of looting. By the way, for a long time after the end of the Civil War, the southerners had stories about the “wild Cossack” John Turchin, whose soldiers robbed the local population. In many ways, these stories were due to the fact that the democrat Turchin really did not feel reverence for rich slave owners and could well turn a blind eye to the sins of his subordinates, as well as blacks - slaves.
On the other hand, all the American officers who had dealings with Turchaninov spoke of the high education and good manners of the Russian emigrant. As for the cases of looting, they took place in almost all American units - both in the army of the northerners and in the army of the southerners. However, they decided to make Turchin the "scapegoat" - firstly, he was still a "stranger" among the American commanders, and secondly, he "crossed the road" to Major General Buell himself, who at that time had a great influence in the American the military elite. The trial began.
The military court was about to dismiss Colonel Turchin from military service, but Turchin's longtime friend Abraham Lincoln, by this time already the president of the United States, intervened. He awarded John Turchin the rank of brigadier general of the American army. After that, Turchin turned out to be immune from the court, since the jury, who had the rank of colonel, could not dismiss the general. So the only Russian general of the American army remained in its composition. At the same time, Abraham Lincoln saved Turchin from further problems by removing Major General Don Carlos Buell from his post. By this time, Buell was seriously suspected of sympathizing with the southerners, so they decided to remove him from the command post. Buell refused other posts and in 1864 retired from military service altogether.
Turchin's brigade distinguished itself in the battles at Chickamauga and Chattanooga. On September 19-20, 1863, the forces of the northerners were severely defeated by the Confederates and began to retreat. The valiant Turchin could not accept this. He personally led the counterattack of his brigade and, having broken through the line of defense of the southerners, found himself in their rear. Turchin's brigade made a brilliant raid in the rear, capturing 300 soldiers and officers of the southern army and capturing several artillery pieces. The attack was named in honor of the fearless general "Turchinskaya attack behind enemy lines." It was under this name that she entered American history textbooks.
Turchin distinguished himself again in the battle at Chattanooga, where he also personally led the attack of his brigade. The personal courage of Brigadier General Turchin and the dedication of his wife, doctor Nadin Turchin, contributed to the fact that the couple of Russian émigrés became the real favorites of the American military. Turchin tried to protect his soldiers as much as possible and was very worried after the disaster on September 17, 1862, when the train carrying the personnel of his brigade fell from a bridge over the Beaver Creek in Indiana. 25 soldiers and 1 officer were killed, 114 people were injured. After that Turchin, regretting, said that these were the most numerous losses of his brigade during the entire period of hostilities. By the way, in addition to direct command of the troops, Turchin at that time also managed to carry out scientific work - to study tactics, to write the work "Teaching the Brigade"which was later recognized as the best of its kind at the time. The overloads affected the health of the 42-year-old general. In 1864 he suffered a heart attack. His health condition no longer allowed Turchin to remain in a command position and he was forced to retire from military service.
John Turchin returned to civilian life. He settled in Chicago, where he worked as a civil engineer and later took up the real estate trade in southern Illinois. In 1873, Turchin even founded the Polish colony of Radom in Illinois, where he began to invite Polish emigrants. While in the civil service, he wrote on the history of the American Civil War. Over the years, Turchin began to yearn for his homeland. He even wrote a letter to Emperor Alexander II with a request to allow him and his wife to return to the Russian Empire, but the response of the Russian authorities was categorical - to refuse to return to their homeland. The financial situation of the elderly Turchin and his wife deteriorated. Only thanks to the activity of former subordinates who served in the "Turchinskaya" brigade, the legendary participant in the Civil War began to receive a small pension. The exploits of General Turchin in the United States during the life of the commander were not appreciated.
In 1901, 79-year-old John Turchin died at Anne Hospital in Illinois. Nadin Turchin also died three years later. The couple are buried in a military cemetery in Mount City, Illinois, and their graves are maintained, as befits the graves of American military personnel, at the expense of the United States of America.
At present, the figure of an amazing person - a Russian officer who became a general in the American army - is of increasing interest both in the United States itself and in Russia. Moreover, many works on military history belonging to the pen of Turchaninov - Turchin have not lost their relevance at the present time.
Author: Ilya Polonsky