The Battle of Jezerce

On July 13, 1877, the right flank of the Ruschuk detachment under the command of Adjutant General Count Vorontsov-Dashkov was taken by Solenik and Konstanz .

At Solenik were located the 1st brigade of the 35th Infantry Division , 2 batteries of the 35th artillery brigade, 3 squadrons of the 8th Ulan Voznesensky regiment , 3 hundreds of the 8th Don Cossack regiment, 12th Hussar Akhtyrsky regiment , 15th horse-artillery battery and 9th Don Cossack battery; Constance - a battalion of the Nezhin regiment and a hundred of the 8th Don Cossack regiment; near the village of Kacelevo - the 2nd brigade of the 35th infantry division with 4 batteries of the 35th artillery brigade.

From the side of the Turks, to protect Razgrad - Rushchuk highway, the side vanguards and, between the covers, to Jezerce , 6 battalions of the Azis Pasha brigade, 6 squadrons and 6 guns were advanced.

On July 14, at about 7 o’clock in the morning, the hundred that occupied the guard chain in front of Constance were attacked by 2 Turkish squadrons from Jezerce. To support the Cossacks from Constance a battalion of the Nezhinsky regiment advanced. This forced the Turkish cavalry to retreat, but about 8 hours she again resumed the offensive. Major General Tikhmenev, commander of the 1st Brigade of the 35th Infantry Division , immediately advanced the remaining 2 battalions of the Nezhinsky Regiment and the battalion of the Bolkhovsky Regiment with a battery; 2 companies of the Bolkhov Regiment, covering the detachment kitchens in the Solenik Gorge, hearing shots from Constance, moved there.

About 10 hours a message was received about the appearance of Turkish infantry from the highway. Count Vorontsov-Dashkov decided to immediately attack the Turks. Taking with him the 12th Hussar Regiment, 3 hundreds of Cossacks and 2 guns of the 9th Don Battery, he went to Constance. Arriving there at the beginning of the first hour of the day (the Turks retreated from Konstanz before Tikhmenev approached him) , Count Vorontsov-Dashkov moved to Jezerche for the purpose of reconnaissance and ordered Tikhmenev to follow the same with the infantry.

In view of the inconsistency of the news, the direction was taken from Konstanz to the Razgrad highway, between the villages of Torlak and Jezerce. At about 2 in the afternoon, when the Vorontsov-Dashkov cavalry approached Ezertche, the Turks attacked her. The platoon caused by the Cossack battery opened fire, but did not succeed. Vorontsov-Dashkov decided to wait for the infantry approach. Meanwhile, Tikhmenev’s infantry was moving very slowly due to the difficulty of raising artillery; upon her arrival (at about 4 pm), Vorontsov-Dashkov ordered Tikhmenev to put a battery near the Cossack platoon and attack it with infantry Jezerce; The 12th hussar regiment was ordered to cover the left flank, 3 hundred of the 8th Don Cossack regiment - the right flank, and a hundred were sent to the right and forward, bypassing the enemy’s position, in order to find out the location of the Turks. Later it turned out that the Turks occupied 2 Jezerce battalions and a height north of it, on which a battery stood at the northeast corner of the village, the chain was located on the outskirts, behind the earthen and prickly hedges, 4 battalions were in the second line, at the heights east of Jezerce .

The approaches to the village were extremely rugged terrain, covered with dense, difficult to pass and high thickets, lying at a distance of 2.6 kilometers from the front to the village. At the bottom of the mountain on which the village is located, the thicket ended and the ascent to the mountain went along a flat slope open to gun and artillery fire. Capturing an enemy position was difficult due to the impossibility for the Russians to control the movement of units in the forest. The terrain on the right flank steeply descended to the north and northeast and was a dense thicket, inconvenient for maneuvering. Only a frontal attack remained possible.

Despite the difficult approaches to the position and the superiority of the forces of the Turks, Vorontsov-Dashkov ordered Tikhmenev to attack Erzereche, acting mainly on the left flank. The latter was comparatively more accessible, but since for the attack he would have to stretch the squad excessively, Tikhmenev limited himself to a frontal offensive. Local conditions required a special density of the chain, and therefore Tikhmenev put forward 6 rows in one line (at the western edge of the thicket) , arranged the other 6 rows behind the chain in a sharp order, 3 companies of the Nezhinsky regiment, arriving simultaneously with the battery, assigned to the reserve the right flank, and He left 2 companies of the Bolkhovsky regiment in the general reserve, near the artillery position.

For a direct attack, Jezerce was assigned only 15 companies. Enemy artillery fire, aimed mainly at the cavalry, did little harm to the infantry units. At the end of the 4th hour of the day, Russian artillery opened fire. The Turks immediately sent fire on their guns. The infantry entered the thickets at this time. Azis Pasha, noting the infantry approach to the forest, moved into the thickets of 2 battalions of the 2nd line, in the form of a dense chain, along the open slope of the mountain, in front of the village.

Russian infantry attacked without a shot. At about 5 pm, both chains met. At the same time, rifle fire opened simultaneously. The chain of Russians rushed into hostility. The Turks were overthrown and driven out of the edge. Then, Azis Pasha resumed attacks on the forest 3 times, but each time the Turks were repelled. During the last attack, Azis Pasha personally led the chain, wishing to inspire the soldiers by personal example, and was killed. In view of the persistence of the battle, Vorontsov-Dashkov sent an order to Katselyovo to immediately move the 2nd brigade with artillery to help; the death of Azis Pasha demoralized the Turks, and they retreated in disarray to Jezerce. Behind them, the commander of the Nezhin Infantry Regiment Tinkov came out to the edge of the thicket with a battalion and rifle company, rushed into the village, knocked out the enemy with bayonets and burst into the village, where a stubborn bayonet battle ensued, which ended at 8:30 in the evening, ousting the Turks from Jezerce.

The enemy battery quickly took off and retreated. At this time, Major Florinsky with 4 companies of the Bolkhov Regiment, acting on the left flank in the forest and ravines, having suffered significant losses, continued the offensive and, having knocked out the Turks from the folds of the area adjacent to the northern side of Jezerce, completely took control of the village.

The Turks in disorder moved to the heights east of the village and began to settle on them. The persecution was assigned to the 12th Hussar Regiment. The total loss of Turks amounted to 500 people killed, wounded and captured, Russian - 83 killed and 175 wounded ^[2] . After cleaning the wounded, all the units went, by order of Count Vorontsov-Dashkov, to the village of Konstanz, where they reached only in the morning of July 15. At dawn, General Baranov arrived here with the 2nd Brigade of the 35th Infantry Division and a battery; on the morning of the 15th, due to the subsequent order to change the location of the Ruschuk detachment, Count Vorontsov-Dashkov returned with his troops to Solenik, and General Baranov - to Katselyovo. Jezerce was again occupied by the Turks.

• Sytin I.D.Sytin Military Encyclopedia. - Publishing Partnership of I. D. Sytin, 1912. - T. 9. - S. 306-307.