Attack on Karginsk
Just before advancing on Kizlyar, Sheikh Mansur and his army of North Caucasians attacked the Karginsk Redoubt, which ended in a success for the former and his capture and looting of the redoubt. The Attack on Karginsk was the first victory of Sheikh Mansur outside of Chechnya.[1][2][3]
| Attack on the Karginsky Redoubt | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of July 1785 Siege of Kizlyar of the Sheikh Mansur Movement | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Sheikh Mansur Movement |
| ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
Sheikh Mansur | Unknown | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 5,000+ | Less | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| Unknown | 4 cannons | ||||||||
History
The forces of the highlanders, numbering more than 5,000 people, led by Sheikh Mansur, made their way to Kizlyar to capture and destroy it. On July 14, the rebels arrived near Karginsk.
Mansur's forces approached the Karginsk redoubt, located around 8 kilometers from Kizlyar. Motivated by their victory over Pieri's detachment, the rebels began their attack on the redoubt.[1][3]
Capturing the redoubt only defended by a small garrison turned out to be a difficult task, especially since the garrison was made up of experienced and well trained soldiers. The lack of experience of the North Caucasians in capturing fortresses also played a crucial role. As a result, several attacks by the forces of Mansur were repelled. Sheikh Mansur realized that a direct attack on the redoubt could lead to heavy losses, so he called his commanders into the camp to discuss further actions.[1][4]
The highlanders began gathering everything burnable and built large fires, causing nearby wooden houses to catch fire and burn down. The fire eventually spread to the redoubt walls. The Russian soldiers tried extinguishing the fire with water from a nearby river, but their access to it was cut off by Mansur's troops. A strong wind carried the fire across the redoubt, eventually reaching the powder magazine. The entire fortification, together with most of its defenders, blew up. Following that, the forces of Mansur successfully stormed the bastion and captured the remaining defenders, as well as 4 cannons.[1][4][3]
See also
- Sheikh Mansur — Commander of the North Caucasian army, Imam of the North Caucasus
- Battle of Aldy — Battle a few days before the attack on Karginsk
- Siege of Kizlyar (July 1785) — Battle following right after the attack on Karginsk
References
Citations
- Мусаев 2007, p. 48.
- Oztas 2013, p. 5.
- Defense of the Karginsk Redoubt (in Russian)
- Ибрагимов 2006, p. 331.
Sources
- Мусаев, Алаудин (2007). Шейх Мансур [Sheikh Mansur] (in Russian). pp. 33–34.
- Хасбулатов, А.И.; Гапуров, Ш.А.; Ахмадов, Ш.Б.; Багаев, М.Х.; Хизриев, Х.А.; Ахмадов, Я.З.; Исаев, С.А.; Бадаев, С.Э.С.; Ибрагимова, З.Х. (2006). Ибрагимов, М.М. (ed.). История Чечни с древнейших времён до наших дней [History of Chechnya from the ancient times to the present day] (in Russian). Grozny: Книжное издательство. pp. 301–302. ISBN 978-5-98896-103-1.
- Oztas, Ahmet (2013). A Page from the History of the North Caucasus: Imam Mansur Ushurma. EHESS. pp. 1–14.