Malakhov Kurgan is a strategically important height located in Sevastopol on the Ship side. It became famous after the Crimean War, when Russian troops heroically defended it in the confrontation with the French and the British. This was in 1854-1855. In 1942, fierce battles with the Nazi invaders again unfolded in these places. Now the mound is part of the city limits, it is one of the most visited places in Sevastopol by tourists.
Where did the name come from?
The name Malakhov Kurgan appeared for the first time in 1851. It was documented on the master plan of Sevastopol. Today, in the archives of the Navy, you can find documents that confirm the version that the mound was named after Mikhail Mikhailovich Malakhov.
He was a captain of the Russian army who moved to Sevastopol from Kherson in 1827. He settled on the Ship Side, where he commanded a company of the 18th workercrew. In a short time, Malakhov became known throughout the district, having gained a reputation as a fair and honest leader who adequately treated the lower ranks. His house was right next to the mound. He was always open to petitioners who came to him with controversial issues and problems. Over time, the whole mound began to be called the captain's surname.
History of the barrow
Malakhov Kurgan in Sevastopol became famous during the Crimean War. Significant events took place here in the summer of 1854, when a defensive bastion was built on the southeastern slope. Funds for it were collected by the residents of the city themselves, engineer Starchenko supervised the work. The bastion, which eventually became known as Kornilovsky, still exists today.
In October, the enemy was at the walls of Sevastopol. It was a combined army of the British, French and Turks. On October 5, the bombardment began immediately both from the sea and from land. On that day, the British managed to partially destroy the third defense bastion. A huge number of shells were fired, but there was no large-scale destruction on the Malakhov Kurgan. The fortifications were promptly restored and new ones were built.
Bastion on the Ship Side
As part of the military campaign of 1854, it was possible to build the main bastion on the Ship side. He is part of the fourth line of defense. Until 1855, it was commanded by Rear Admiral Istomin. That year, nine batteries and 76 guns defended the bastion. Malakhov Kurgan in Sevastopol was defended by a wholenear reliable fortifications.
During the Crimean War, it became obvious to everyone that it was here that the main hostilities would unfold. At the same time, it is worth recognizing that the loss of part of Sevastopol by Russia did not mean defeat in the Crimean War. After all, most of the Crimea retained its combat capability, the Russian army entrenched itself in the north of the city. Commander Gorchakov, addressing the troops, noted that Sevastopol chained soldiers and officers to its walls, but they are ready to meet the enemy with their chest and defend their native land.
The defeat of the Russian army
By 1855, it became obvious that the Russian troops were being defeated by the Allied army, even though they were heavily outnumbered. One of the decisive battles took place under Inkerman. There is a widespread opinion that one of the key reasons for that defeat was the superiority of the enemy in technical terms. The French and British were much better armed, they had rifled barrels. True, today some historians refute this, arguing that Russian soldiers also had rifled fittings. At least some units were armed with them.
The battles for Malakhov Kurgan were fierce. But still, by the summer of 1855, the whole of Sevastopol was in a dense ring, subjected to massive artillery fire. Eyewitnesses stated that for several days in August, continuous fire was constantly fired from eight hundred guns. Every day there were about a thousand dead from the Russian side, by the end of Augustthe intensity of the shelling weakened, but still the garrison suffered daily casu alties, with five to eight hundred killed and wounded.
Siege of the Mound
On August 24, an intensified siege of the Malakhov Kurgan in Sevastopol began, which even silenced the Russian artillery on the mound itself and on the second bastion of the city's defense. After the end of the artillery preparation, both Sevastopol and the barrow were practically a pile of debris and ruins. It was simply not possible to fix something or restore it.
On August 27, the enemy carried out another intensive artillery preparation, after which the assault on the Malakhov Kurgan began. The Russians put up massive resistance, but still, after half an hour, the French were able to capture the defensive redoubts. Malakhov Kurgan, the photo of which is in this article, was taken.
At the same time, it was possible to repulse the enemy attack at most of the other points, but further defense of the city became pointless from a military point of view after the fall of the barrow.
Abandoned city
After this failure, Prince Gorchakov, who commanded the troops, hastily left the southern part of Sevastopol. He managed to transfer troops to the north side of the city in a matter of hours. Sevastopol itself tried to leave the enemy in the most unattractive form. The powder magazines were blown up and the city set on fire.
Even the warships that were in the Sevastopol Bay were quickly flooded. Now you know what kind of war on Malakhov Kurganmade this place famous. On August 30, the army, which was part of the anti-Russian coalition, officially entered the largest city of Crimea.
Revolutionary years
About Malakhov Kurgan in Sevastopol, the photo of which you can see in this article, they talked a lot during the Civil War. A memorable event took place in December 1917, at the very beginning of the confrontation between the "whites" and the "reds".
It was on the Crimean mound that the crews of military destroyers called "Gadzhibey" and "Fidonisi" opposed the officers, raising a riot on the ship. All officers were shot, in total 32 people died. Modern historians argue that this was one of the first acts of the Red Terror, which in the near future became very common on the Crimean Peninsula, continuing throughout almost the entire Civil War.
Defenders of the Stone Tower
Many famous stories and legends are connected with the defense of Malakhov Kurgan. For example, at one time the defenders of the Stone Tower were actively discussed. Of the garrison defending this fortification, only seven people survived. The French found them among the corpses of their comrades-in-arms after they captured the peninsula.
They say that one of the seriously wounded officers was Vasily Ivanovich Kolchak. He managed to survive and become the father of Alexander Vasilyevich. His son became one of the leaders of the "white" movement during the Civil War in Russia, he managed to assemble a strong army in Siberia, but have a significant impact on the courseevents he could not. At the same time, he had the title of supreme ruler of Russia with headquarters in Omsk.
Toponyms
Among the interesting facts about the war on Malakhov Kurgan, it is worth noting that in many cities streets and districts were named after this place. For example, in Paris today there is an area called Malakof, which is named after the Battle of Malakhov, which ended triumphantly for the French army.
In honor of this battle, army units are named even in Brazil. In the city of Recife, a tower of the naval arsenal was dedicated to the mound, the courage of the defenders of Crimea and Sevastopol was so highly appreciated there. Today it houses a modern observatory, as well as a museum.
What is quite surprising, in Austria they are treated to a cake called "Malakhov", which received this name in honor of the Duke of Malachovsky, Jean-Jacques Pelissier. In fact, this is a cold version of the Austrian "Charlotte".
The image of the barrow in art
The image of the barrow in Sevastopol has been repeatedly used in various fields of art. So, it can be seen on the panorama called "Defense of Sevastopol". It captures the moment on June 6, 1855, when the 75,000-strong Russian army was able to repel an attack by an allied army in a fierce battle, which greatly outnumbered it. The British and French in the battle involved about 173 thousand people.
An eternal flame was lit on the defensive tower in 1958, and a branch of the Museum "Heroic Defense andliberation of Sevastopol".
The description of the battles around this Crimean city, according to many researchers, served as the basis for Louis Boussenard's adventure novels about the exploits of Captain Rip-head.
The feature film is dedicated to the defense of the mound, which is called "Malakhov Kurgan". Its directors were Iosif Kheifits and Alexander Zarkhi. The pictures appeared on Soviet screens in 1944.
The mound is mentioned in many works of art: in Yuri Antonov's song "Poppies", Valentin Gaft's poem "Hooligan", the song "Sevastopol W altz" to Rublev's verses and Listov's music, in the song "Sevastopol Strada" of the Ivan Tsarevich group ".
Sevastopol stories
Perhaps the most famous work dedicated to the Crimean War, which also mentions this barrow, is the cycle "Sevastopol Tales" by Leo Tolstoy. The classic of Russian literature himself took part in the battles as an artilleryman, so his descriptions are authentic, almost documentary.
The stories describe the heroic defense of Sevastopol by parts of the Russian army. Tolstoy describes in detail the heroism of specific defenders of the city, soldiers and officers, pays much attention to the horrors and inhumanity of war.
This is one of the few occasions when a famous writer was in the ranks of the army, informing others about what is happening on the front lines of the battle. In fact, Lev Nikolayevich served as a war correspondent.
Tolstoy succeeded withamazing accuracy to describe the life of the besieged city. At the same time, the writer had time to be on duty at the battery of the Fourth Bastion, more than once came under artillery fire, including one of the heaviest bombardments, which happened in March 1855. He personally took part in the battles on the Black River during the final assault on the city.
The cycle consists of three stories called "Sevastopol in December", "Sevastopol in May" and "Sevastopol in August 1855". They describe all the events with scrupulous chronological accuracy. Often the author criticizes the senselessness, cruelty and empty vanity that can be found in the war.
In the final story, he dwells on the fate of the recruit Volodya, portraying him as a young optimist who went to fight in Sevastopol as a volunteer. Almost everyone around him cannot understand how it was possible to exchange a peaceful life for the filth and horror of this war.
When Volodya is offered to go to Malakhov Kurgan, he willingly agrees, he dies there during an attack by a French detachment. This death echoes the famous episode from Tolstoy's epic War and Peace, the death of Petya Rostov. Tolstoy thus seeks to convey how illusory the patriotic ideas that live in the minds of modern youth.
