About the Kulikovo battle
The Battle of Kulikovo (the Don or Mamaevo massacre) is a decisive battle between the united Russian army under the command of the Moscow Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich Donskoy and the army of Mamai's Golden Horde beklyarbek. The battle took place on September 8 (September 21), 1380 on the Kulikovo field, between the Don, Nepryadva and Krasivaya Mechei rivers, in the southwestern part of the Epifan district of the Tula province, on an area of about 10 square kilometers.
Causes
With the beginning of the “great confusion” in the Horde in 1362, with its almost annual change of khans, the relations of the Russian princes with the Golden Horde “tsars” changed significantly. The weakening of the central power in the Horde made it possible, first of all, for the Moscow prince Dmitry to pursue an increasingly independent policy. After 3 clashes in 1368, 1370 and 1372, Moscow was able to stop the onslaught of Lithuania, in 1375 a treaty was signed with Tver, directly directed against the Tatars. And in the spring of 1376, the Russian army, led by D. M. Bobrok-Volynsky invaded the middle Volga (Bulgar cities), took 5000 rubles from the Horde henchmen and imprisoned Russian customs officers there. Temnik Mamai, who by that time had significantly increased his power and influence, could not help but react to this.
1377 - Arab Shah (Tsarevich Arapsha in Russian chronicles), who went into the service of Mamai, the khan of the Blue Horde, defeated the united Nizhny Novgorod-Moscow army on the Pyana River, plundered Nizhny Novgorod and Ryazan. And the next year, Mamai, inspired by this success, sent one of his best generals, Murza Begich, against the Moscow prince himself. But in the battle on the Vozha River, the Tatars' army was utterly defeated, and Begich himself was killed.
Mamai army
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This shook Mamai's position in the Horde (especially since a very dangerous contender for the throne appeared - the natural Chingizid Tokhtamysh), and he began active preparations for the decisive battle. The Russian annals say that Mamai intended to repeat Batu's campaign and destroy the Russian lands so that they could not rise. Mamai gathered all possible forces, entered into a political alliance with the Lithuanian prince Yagailo, tried to win over the Ryazan prince Oleg to his side. A terrible threat looms over the Russian lands.
It is rather difficult to judge the number of the Mamai army. It is precisely known about 4,000 hired Genoese infantry, that Mamai collected reinforcements from all territories under his control: the militia of the Yas and Kasogs, the inhabitants of the North Caucasus, took part in the battle. In the description of the battle, it is also said about 3 Tatar temniks who stood with Mamai on Red Hill. In the "Legend of the Mamay Massacre" it is said about 800,000 Mamai's troops, which, of course, is a gigantic exaggeration. However, all sources known to us say with confidence that Mamai's army was larger than the Russian. It seems that one can agree with the number of 80,000.
Russian army
Having received news of the advancement of Mama's hordes, Prince Dmitry announced the gathering of the all-Russian militia. A review of the Russian troops was appointed in Kolomna on August 15, 1380. The nucleus of the Russian army set out from Moscow to Kolomna - in three parts along three roads. Separately moved the courtyard of Dmitry himself, separately the regiments of his cousin Vladimir Andreevich Serpukhovsky and separately - the regiments of the assistants of the Belozersk, Yaroslavl and Rostov princes.
Representatives of almost all the lands of North-Eastern Russia took part in the all-Russian gathering. In addition to the princes' henchmen, troops arrived from the Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdal, Tver and Smolensk Great Principalities. Already in Kolomna, a primary battle formation was formed: Dmitry began to lead a large regiment; Vladimir Andreevich - right hand regiment; Gleb Bryanskiy was appointed commander of the left-hand regiment; the leading regiment was made up of Koloments. There are significant discrepancies in the numerical composition of the Russian army, but modern historians believe that the number of 60,000 people is closer to the truth.
The Monk Sergius blesses Dmitry to fight Mamai.
Troop movement
In addition, Mamai hoped to join forces with the Grand Duke of Lithuania Yagailo and Oleg Ryazansky against Moscow, while he assumed that Dmitry would not risk withdrawing troops across the Oka, but would occupy a defensive position on its northern bank, as he had already done in 1373 and 1379 biennium The allied forces on the southern bank of the Oka were planned for September 14th.
But the Moscow prince, realizing the danger of this unification, on August 26 swiftly led his army to the mouth of the Lopasnya and made the crossing across the Oka to the Ryazan limits. It should be noted that he led the army to the Don not along the shortest route, but along an arc west of the central regions of the Ryazan principality. On the way to the Don, in the Berezui tract, the regiments of the Lithuanian princes Andrei and Dmitry Olgerdovich were added to the Russian troops. At the last moment, the Novgorodians joined the Russian army.
Troop formation
On the night of September 7, the Russian army crossed the Don, thereby essentially cutting off its path for retreat. On the evening of September 7, they were lined up in battle formations. The large regiment and the entire courtyard of Dmitry stood in the center. They were commanded by the Moscow okolnichny Timofey Velyaminov. On the flanks, the regiment of the right hand under the command of the Lithuanian prince Andrei Olgerdovich and the regiment of the left hand of princes Vasily Yaroslavsky and Theodore Molozhsky were located. In front of the large regiment was the guard regiment of the princes Simeon Obolensky and John of Tarusa. An ambush regiment under the command of Prince Vladimir Andreevich and Dmitry Mikhailovich Bobroko-Volynsky was placed in the oak grove up the Don.
The course of the Kulikovo battle
1380, September 8, morning - it was foggy. Until 11 o'clock, until the fog cleared, the troops stood ready for battle, kept in touch with the sounds of trumpets. Dmitry again toured the shelves, often changing horses. At 12 o'clock the Tatars also appeared on the Kulikovo field. The Battle of Kulikovo began with several small skirmishes of the advanced detachments, after which the legendary duel of the Tatar Chelubey (or Telebei) with the monk Alexander Peresvet took place. Both fighters fell dead (it may very well be that this episode, described only in the "Tale of the Mamayev Massacre," is a legend).
Then came the battle of the guard regiment with the vanguard of the Tatars, headed by the military leader Telyak. The Moscow prince was at first in a guard regiment, and then joined the ranks of a large regiment, exchanging clothes and a horse with the Moscow boyar Mikhail Andreevich Brenok, who then fought and died under the banner of the Grand Duke.
In the middle of the day, the Tatars went on the attack with all their might. The joint blow of the professional Genoese infantry and the Tatar cavalry was terrible. An extremely fierce battle ensued. The Russian guard regiment was almost completely destroyed. In the center and on the left flank, the Russians were on the verge of breaking through their battle formations, the situation could be saved only by the counterattack of Gleb Bryanskiy. On the right flank, the attack of the Tatars was unsuccessful. Then Mamai directed the main blow to the regiment of his left hand. As a result, this regiment could not hold the formation, broke away from the large regiment and began to retreat to Nepryadva; The Tatars pursued him, a threat arose to the rear of the Russian large regiment, the Russian army was pushed back to the river, and the Russian battle formations were finally mixed.
Sometimes they write that it was a tactical idea of the Russians, who lured the Tatars under the attack of an ambush regiment. But this is hard to believe, because the Tatars thereby broke through to the rear of a large regiment, and to take such a risk … Maybe a false retreat was conceived, but at some point it became quite real. However, perhaps this is what was able to convince the Tatars that victory was very close, and they were carried away by the pursuit of the retreating Russians.
Vladimir Andreevich, who commanded the ambush regiment, offered to strike earlier, but the governor Bobrok held him back, and when the Tatars broke through to the river and framed the ambush regiment's rear, he ordered to join the battle. The cavalry attack from the rear on the main forces of the Mongols was decisive. The Mongol cavalry was driven into the river and killed there. At the same time, the right-flank regiments of Andrey and Dmitry Olgerdovich went on the offensive. The Tatars mixed and fled.
A turning point came in the Battle of Kulikovo. Mamai, who watched the battle from afar and saw the defeat, fled with small forces as soon as the ambush regiment of the Russians entered the battle. There was no one to regroup the Tatar forces, continue the battle, or at least cover the retreat. Therefore, the entire Tatar army fled.
The ambush regiment pursued the Tatars to the Krasivaya Swords River 50 miles, "beating" their "countless number". Returning from the pursuit, Vladimir Andreevich began to gather an army. The Grand Duke Dmitry Donskoy himself was wounded and knocked down from his horse, but was able to reach the forest, where he was found unconscious after the battle.
Losses
The losses on both sides were very large. Of course, one cannot believe the absolutely incredible figures of the "Legend …", which says about hundreds of thousands of victims. But even by the most conservative estimates, the Russians lost at least a third (and maybe half) of their troops. The fleeing Mamai was able to save only 1/9 of the army, but it is possible that the bulk of the Tatars still fled and did not die. Nevertheless, the victory of the Russian army was complete and unconditional.
The dead were buried from 9 to 16 September; a church was erected on a common grave (no longer exists). The Russians stood on the battlefield for eight days, burying their fallen soldiers.
Battle of Kulikovo and its meaning
In disputes about the historical significance of the victory in the Battle of Kulikovo, historians have broken spears to this day. The point of view of F. M. Shabuldo: “The defeat of the main forces of the Mama Horde in the battle on the Kulikovo field on September 8, 1380 was a turning point in the struggle of Russia against the Golden Horde, whose military power and political domination suffered a serious blow, which accelerated its disintegration into smaller states. Another foreign policy opponent of the Moscow Grand Duchy - the Grand Duchy of Lithuania - also entered a period of hopeless crisis. The victory in the Battle of Kulikovo secured for Moscow the importance of the organizer and ideological center of the reunification of the East Slavic lands, showing that the path to their state and political unity was the only path to their liberation from foreign domination."
A. Domanin