Anapa Campaign (1790)

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Anapa Campaign
Part of Sheikh Mansur Movement and Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792)
Date10th February [lower-alpha 1] – 4th May [lower-alpha 2] 1790 [1]
Location
Result

North Caucasian–Ottoman victory

  • Heavy Russian casualties
  • Failure of the Russian army to capture Anapa
Belligerents
Flag of the Sheikh Mansur Movement.png Sheikh Mansur Movement
1783 Ottoman Flag.svg Ottoman Empire
Flag of Russia.svg  Russian Empire
Commanders and leaders
Sheikh Mansur flag.svg Sheikh Mansur
1783 Ottoman Flag.svg Kose Mustafa Pasha
1783 Ottoman Flag.svg Hussein Batal Pasha
Flag of Russia.svg Yuri Bibikov
Units involved
Unknown

Separate Caucasian Corps: [2]

14 Infantry Battalions
6 Dragoon Squadrons
7 Cossack Regiments
Strength
15,000
or
48,000 [3]

7,609 [2]

26 cannons
Casualties and losses

Flag of the Sheikh Mansur Movement.png 630 KIA [3]

1783 Ottoman Flag.svg Unknown
2,202
The campaign costed the Russian Empire more than 52,000 rubles and ended in a serious Russian defeat. As a result, Yuri Bibikov, the commander of the Separate Caucasian Corps, was dismissed and replaced by Anton de Balmen, and the army which Bibikov led into Circassia was awarded a special silver medal on a blue ribbon, with the inscription: “For loyalty”. [4]

The Anapa Campaign in the winter of 1790 was a military expedition launched by Russia to capture the fortress of Anapa. The expedition failed.

Contents

Background

The fort of Anapa is located on Krasnodar Krai and facing the black sea and Crimea. In the past centuries, it was a trading post where Turks, Greeks, and Genoese people came to buy slaves from Circassia and Abkhazia. By the end of the 18th century, the fort became a battleground between the Ottomans, Russians, Circassians, Crimeans, and Nogai people due to its location. In 1787, the Ottoman Empire declared war on Russia. The Chechen leader, Sheikh Mansur, who was allied with the Ottomans at the time, took a position to defend Anapa from the Russian army. [5]

Campaign

In March 1790, Russia dispatched a military expedition to conquer the Ottoman fort of Anapa. [5] The fort had a garrison of 15,000 men, [6] led by Battal Hussein Pasha. [7] The Russians were led by General Yuri Bibikov, who had a force of 12,000 men. [5] Bibikov arrived at a village near the fort and attacked it; he also began attacking Circassian and Nogai tribes, defeating them. Pasha dispatched a force under Kose Mustasa Pasha to aid the tribes; however, he was defeated and forced back to the fort. [5] [7]

After his victory, Yuri attacked the fort of Anapa on March 24. [5] [7] The Russian troops did not have scaling ladders, horses, or food, and the hostile Caucasian population began attacking them. [8] The Russian attack on the fort was also repulsed by heavy Ottoman artillery and attacks from the forces of Sheikh Mansur. As a result, the Russians called off the attack and withdrew. [5] Yuri lost 5,000 men and 1,000 sick and wounded died 40 days later. [9] The Russian Tsarina, Catherine the Great, dismissed Yuri, who was later sent for trial. [10] [11]

See also

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References

Notes

  1. Russian army crosses the Kuban River
  2. Russian army arrive at Grigoriopolis

Citations

  1. Мусаев 2007, p. 73–74.
  2. 1 2 Мусаев 2007, p. 73.
  3. 1 2 Campaign in the North Caucasus in 1790 (in Russian)
  4. Мусаев 2007, p. 74.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Oztas 2013, p. 8.
  6. The Black Sea Encyclopedia, p. 93
  7. 1 2 3 Şahin 2017, p. 62.
  8. The Black Sea Encyclopedia, p. 93
  9. M. Sadık Bilge, 155
  10. The Black Sea Encyclopedia, p. 93
  11. M. Sadık Bilge, 155

Bibliography