The Siege of Smolensk (1632-1633)

After the end of the Deulinskoy truce, both sides continued the war, suspended in 1618 . In April 1632, Shein and Dmitry Pozharsky were appointed governors of a large regiment, that is, commanders of the Russian army. However, the performance of troops on Smolensk was delayed due to the intensified attacks of the Crimean Tatars on the " southern Ukraine ". Valuable summer months were lost, and Pozharsky fell ill with a “black malady” and was replaced by the round- robin Artemy Izmailov . The actual commander in chief was Shein, whose regiments were subordinate to the "foreign system . " Shein and Izmailov, who were in Mozhaisk, received a specific order to speak in the direction of Smolensk from Moscow only on September 10 .

The historian Dmitry Menshikov in the actions of the Shein army distinguishes several stages:

• the period of gathering troops and the offensive on Smolensk (August - December 1632),
• the siege of Smolensk (December 1632 - August 1633),
• time of active battles with the army of Vladislav IV (August - October 1633)
• and the period of the blockade of Shein’s troops (October 1633 - February 1634), which ended with the surrender of the Russian army ^[4] .

Autumn rains and mudslings made it difficult to advance troops with heavy "outfits" and an extensive convoy. The heaviest gun had to be left in Vyazma until spring. Dorogobuzh , located on the way to Smolensk, was taken only on October 18. Covering the flanks, light cavalry detachments were sent to adjacent cities and acted very successfully, taking 23 cities, from Novgorod-Seversky to Nevel . Separately, mention should be made of the capture by Prince Semyon Prozorovsky of the strategic fortress of Belaya . Nevertheless, Russian troops could approach Smolensk only in December, and heavy stenobit guns had to be expected for about three more months.

According to the plan, the army should have reached 32,000, but this number could not be reached and the governor's army numbered about 24,000 ^[5] , including 3,463 mercenaries from Holland , Scotland , Sweden , Germany and England . The mercenaries were divided into four regiments under the command of senior colonel Alexander Leslie ^[6] and colonels Hans Friedrich Fuchs, Jacob Karl Haresleben and Thomas Sanderson. A significant part of the army was made up of regiments of the new system. These were six soldier and one Reyta regiments, with a total number of 9 978 people.

By August 1633, the army received reinforcements, but they were only able to partially compensate for the ongoing melting of the troops. It was caused by the large-scale campaign of the Crimean Khan on the southern borders of the Russian state, in connection with which many noblemen and children of the boyars from the southern districts began to leave the army arbitrarily in order to protect their estates. At the end of August, the Russian army numbered only 20,000, including 11,500 infantry and about 8,500 cavalry, and with the approach of the army of King Vladislav, desertion intensified further ^[7] .

The defectors reported that there were 7,000 people in the garrison of the city, although this exceeded the true number of defenders of the city. Shein decided not to attack immediately and organize a siege. 6 miles from Smolensk on the left bank of the Dnieper, the governor built a prison with "warm huts" and threw two bridges across the river. Soldier regiments stood right next to the city from the southeast side and built trenches and tours for guns. A part of the troops was advanced to Orsha and Mstislavsky districts to block the troops of Gonsevsky , who stood at the village of Krasnoye 40 versts from Smolensk and totaled about 6,000 people. The Lithuanian governor urgently needed to transfer reinforcements and supplies to the city. The position of the garrison, in which there were 2,212 people ^[5] under the command of Prince Samuil Sokolinsky, was difficult - there was no fodder and firewood, and the water in the wells was rotten. On the night of February 26, 1633, Gonsevsky was able to transfer about 300 people to reinforcements for the garrison, but the second part of the reinforcements got lost and was destroyed by the Russian troops on the morning of February 27. During the second attempt, another 600 people were transferred across the Pokrovskaya mountain. After this, the governor Shein ordered to strengthen the protection of this direction ^[8] . On the western side of Smolensk was located the "prison" of Prince Prozorovsky. The trenches of the regiment of Wilim Kita adjoined the prison. On the southeast side are the regiments of Alexander Leslie (the Russian regiment of the soldier system and the regiment of mercenaries). But a complete blockade of the city could not be established ^[9] .

In early March 1633 siege artillery arrived. After the installation of guns, Russian troops began shelling the city. The artillery installed in the fortified jails inflicted tangible damage on the fortress. However, in order to blow up the wall before a decisive assault, there was not enough gunpowder, and Shein had to wait for a slow delivery of ammunition. During this time, the Poles managed to repair the damage in the walls and towers, as well as pour earthen ramparts behind the walls. On May 26, part of the wall was blown up, but the assault on the breaches was unsuccessful, as was the repeated assault on June 10 . Affected by an acute shortage of gunpowder, which was supplied to Smolensk extremely poorly and slowly.

During this period, the main concern for the Russian army was the troops located in Krasnoye Gonsevsky who tried to break into Smolensk. Shein entrusted Prince Prozorovsky and the Nagoya governor with the responsibility of deterring the Lithuanian military commander. The very first governor, Mikhail Shein, was estranged from the leadership of the army ^[5] . July 21, 1633 governor Bogdan Nagoy died and his regiment became subordinate to Prince Prozorovsky. In two regiments in the summer of 1633, there were 4,130 people. In addition, in August, William Ceti's soldier regiment of 1,506 men and Samuel Charles d'Ebert’s regiment of 5,400 men ^[10] were transferred to the prince’s subordination to the prince. As part of this regiment, the captain was George (Yuri) Lermont , the ancestor of the poet M. Yu. Lermontov .

On June 24, 1633, a messenger from Smolensk arrived at the Gonsevsky army camp, who said that the position of the garrison was very serious. In early July, Governor Gonsevsky returned to the location of his troops. The governor brought with him the money and paid a long-delayed salary to his troops. After that, it became possible to intensify actions to join the Smolensk garrison ^[11] . On July 23, 1633, reinforcements approached Gonsevsky, and he went on to action.

After lunch on July 29, Governor Gonsevsky and Colonels Madalinsky and Schmeling left the camp. Gonsevsky was going to tie the troops of Prince Prozorovsky, break through the barriers to the Kopyt Gate and deliver the necessary supplies to the city. Later, Nahum Nikonov, the runner-up of the hussar company, who ran across to the Russians, said that Gonsevsky could not inform the garrison of the city, therefore, approaching the Lubna River, the voivode's troops fired cannons, giving a signal to the garrison. Shots were heard in the Russian camp, and Prince Prozorovsky managed to prepare for the meeting. When approaching Russian positions, governor Gonsevsky was attacked by hundreds of Ivan Onichkov, Fyodor Korotnev and Prince Andrei Psevitsky, and Prince Prozorovsky himself hit. The battle lasted four hours, after which Gonsevsky had to retreat ^[12] .

On August 11, 1633, a local peasant, Davyd Fedorov, escaped from the Gonsevsky camp. He said that a detachment of the Kamenetz casteller Alexander Pesochinsky , 2,000 armored troops, who had previously participated in the unsuccessful siege of Putivl, arrived at Gonsevsky. The next day, the full Lithuanian hetman Radziwill arrived at Gonsevsky ^[13] .

On August 13, 1633, a new battle took place. Gonsevsky attacked the advanced hundreds of Prince Prozorovsky on the Yasennaya River. At first, the Russians threw the enemy away from the river, but the Gonsevsky counterattack knocked over the Russian hundreds, who began to retreat. Gonsevsky’s soldiers captured one Russian hundred banner. Rushing in pursuit, the voivode’s troops slipped through Russian positions, but it turned out that the retreat was false. Hundreds of Polish-Lithuanian troops were ambushed, and 400 hired soldiers of Major Robert Keith fired dagger at Gonsevsky's advancing cavalry. At the same time, horseback hundreds, turning around, hit the enemy. Reitars of Colonel d'Ebert attacked the Cossacks of Gonsevsky and knocked them into the river ^[10] . Governor Gonsevsky again had to retreat. The Russians learned from the prisoners that Gonsevsky and Radziwill had 11,000 people at their disposal, and that soon Radziwill planned to move the camp closer to Smolensk ^[14] .

The troops of the hetman and the governors advanced to a new place on August 13, but for several days they managed to go unnoticed. On August 17, Russian patrols came across Polish-Lithuanian columns. On the same day, the Lithuanian hussar, Yan Grudovich, who fled to the Russians, announced that the hetman Radziwill was going to camp on the Borovaya river 7 miles from Smolensk, and with him 8,000 troops. On August 20, the hetman attacked the position of Prince Prozorovsky on the Yasennaya River. Hetman's troops had a numerical and qualitative advantage in the cavalry and tried to lure the Russian hundreds into the field under the blow of a hussar, but the Russians kept close to their positions within the shelling of their artillery. The battle lasted five hours. The Russian Reitars of d'Ebert attacked the Cossack banners of the Hetman and drove them out of the field, but then they themselves were attacked by the Polish Hussars and Reiters and retreated ^[10] . Failing to achieve a result, the hetman ordered a withdrawal ^[15] . Losses on both sides amounted to several dozen people ^[16] . In these battles, captain George (Yuri) Lermont died.

Stretching around the perimeter of the city and guarding heavy guns in the prison, the Russian troops lost their mobility. Thus, when the 25,000th army of King Vladislav approached Smolensk in August, Shein’s army was in an extremely difficult situation and was forced to give the initiative to the enemy. King Vladislav IV , whose army was 10-12 thousand Cossacks led by Timofei Orendarenko , with the army, artillery and wagon train camped in Krasnoye. On August 22, 1633, the king on the river Zhornovka met with the hetman Radziwill and the governor Gonsevsky. On the same day, the Russians raided the royal camp and drove away part of the horses. After the battle, Radziwill invited Shein to exchange prisoners, but the governor refused. On August 25, the royal army camped in Glusice ^[16] .

Attacks of Polish troops on Russian fortifications were initially ineffective and were accompanied by heavy losses. However, over time, the Polish numerical superiority, reinforced by the sorties of the garrison, began to affect. On August 28, 1633, the king launched an assault on Russian positions. The main blow was aimed at Pokrovskaya mountain, where the defense was the weakest ^[17] . 8,000 infantry and cavalry were sent here. Chants on the mountain were occupied by the soldier regiment of Colonel Yuri Mateson. 82 initial people and 1,202 privates withstood all the attacks of the Polish-Lithuanian troops. It was not possible to break through the defense and the king retreated, but managed to transfer some supplies to the garrison of the city ^[10] .

However, as a result of subsequent battles, the regiment began to suffer losses and the defense of the hill became hopeless, Shein managed to perform a skillful maneuver and withdraw from the Pokrovskaya mountain all the soldiers who remained there with guns. Shein continued to take steps to consolidate his army, removing the Prozorovsky group from the western side of the city. The reason for this retreat was, among other things, the desertion of Western mercenaries in the Russian camp, whom Vladislav lured to his side with a bribe.

Having consolidated the army, Shein could have retreated from Smolensk without interference, since the continuation of the siege in the conditions of superior enemy forces was unpromising and threatened with defeat. However, the tsar demanded to remain under the city, promising to send an army led by well-known governors Dmitry Cherkassky and Dmitry Pozharsky to help. Shein firmly established himself on the southeastern side of Smolensk and repulsed the attacks of the Polish-Lithuanian forces. However, his situation deteriorated sharply after the 8,000th Polish detachment under the command of Gonsevsky unexpectedly took Dorogobuzh, where the food depots were located, thus blocking the road from Moscow. This cut off Shein’s army from supplies and communications, and also significantly alienated the prospect of an additional troops approach. When Moscow realized the misery of Shein’s position and started sending messengers with permission to retreat, it was too late. The messengers could not break through the dense ring of Polish "patrols." The voivode of Cherkassky and Pozharsky from Mozhaisk was delayed due to the slowness of the Moscow government. In the end, Shein, who was heroically defending his blocked camp, but suffering a huge shortage of food and forage, had no choice but to sign a ceasefire with Vladislav on February 16, 1634 on the terms of an honorable surrender ^[18] .

The terms of the agreement, given the difficult situation of Shein’s troops, were relatively soft. Military historians agree that Shein has achieved the maximum of what could be expected in this situation. Instead of the Polish captivity, 8.5 thousand warriors who remained with him were provided with the right to free care, they also retained banners, 12 field guns, "cold steel and muskets with charges" ^[19] . According to Moiseyev, 8056 people left the governor Shein from Smolensk. Another 2004 people, sick and wounded, remained in the camp for treatment and after recovery, according to the conditions of the ceasefire, they had to return to Russia ^[20] . The ceasefire was only local in nature and, without tying the hands of the Moscow government, allowed other Russian armies to continue military operations. At the same time, Shein had to leave the enemy siege artillery and camp equipment, and his army was prohibited from fighting for four months against the Poles. In order to achieve free care for his people, Shein went to Vladislav’s demand that he and his colonels, when driving past the Polish camp, bow the banners to the victors and bow to the king.