Passek, Diomid Vasilievich

The son of Vasily Vasilyevich Passek (the elder) was born in 1808 in Tobolsk , where his father, then deported by false denunciation, lived. Passek studied first at the Tobolsk district school and Tobolsk gymnasium , and then at Moscow University in the physics and mathematics department , which he graduated in 1830 with a candidate ’s degree; in the same year. he entered the St. Petersburg Institute of the Corps of Railway Engineers as a first-rank warrant officer, and six months later he was promoted to ensign, and on July 14, 1831 - second lieutenant, and finally, upon graduation from the institute, on June 9, 1832 - on assignments with the appointment to the reserve of the named building and with the retirement at the institute as a tutor.

Two years later, on October 11, 1834, Passek moved from the reserve to the 1st district of communications, and on October 31, 1836 he entered the Military Academy , where he stayed until December 16, 1837. On December 6, 1836, he was promoted to captain of the Corps of Railway Engineers, and on December 13 of the following year, at the end of the course at the Academy, he was assigned to the General Staff and seconded to the Model Cavalry Regiment to study front-line service, and was transferred on December 25, 1838. to the General Staff. On January 25, 1839, Passek was appointed to serve in the 6th Infantry Corps and in August of the same year participated in the celebration of the anniversary of the Battle of Borodino .

In May 1840, he was appointed to serve in the Separate Caucasian Corps . Arriving in the Caucasus, Diomid Vasilievich was placed at the disposal of Major General Kluki von Klugenau , who commanded troops in northern and mountainous Dagestan , and soon attracted attention with his courage; On September 14, 1840, he participated in the defeat of the Shamil masses in the Gimryn Gorge, in the storming of rubble, fortified caves and the occupation of the village of Gimry from the battle. January 21, 1841 Passek was appointed divisional quartermaster to the Caucasus Reserve Grenadier Brigade. At this time, unrest began in the accident. One of the most famous Beks there, Hadji Murad , suspected of having relations with Shamil, was arrested and sent to Temir Khan Shura , but fled from the escort accompanying him, and, collecting his followers, sat down with them in the village of Tselmes. Major General Klucky von Klugenau sent there an infantry battalion with two mountain guns under the command of Passec; but the detachment met with strong resistance and suffered significant damage without any substantial benefit. Hadji Murad then moved to the aul Tloh, a little further from the borders of the accident, continuing to gather adherents and outrage the surrounding villages. On May 15 of the same year, as a member of the Dagestan detachment, Passek participated in hand-to-hand combat when the combined forces captured the Dagestan and Chechen Khubar heights; then he was with the troops designated for construction on the right bank p. Sunzha of the Evgenievsky fortification ; Then he was seconded to the troops of the main Chechen detachment, busy building the Zakan-Yurt and Kazak-Kichu fortifications on p. Sunzhe; On August 8, 1841, Passek completely wrote the text of the petition for N. S. Martynov to the highest name of Count Benckendorf. In which Martynov asked to be tried by a military court instead of a civil one in the case of his duel with Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov. Martynov rewrote the text of the request and gave it as his own. On October 16, Passek was in a strong battle with the highlanders in the Bogaev Forest; On the 23rd, he was in the extermination of forest farms, in hand-to-hand combat and in a strong skirmish with crowds of Chechens, and on November 29, commanding the vanguard of 2 battalions, with two mountain guns, he knocked over the enemy from Betlynska Gora and captured the village of Betla. For these merits, Passek was promoted to lieutenant colonel on June 19, 1841, and was granted the Order of St. 5 November 1842 . 3rd degree Anna with a bow.

Among the constant military worries and various assignments entrusted to Passek by his superiors, he still found time to get acquainted with the mores and customs of numerous hill tribes and to delve into the structure and spirit of public institutions. Shamil was especially interested in Passek, and he studied in detail the characters, personal qualities, exploits and mutual relations of his most important associates. He also paid no less attention to the study of the terrain, which plays such an important role in the mountain war; his notes, lost, could serve as rich material for the topography of the Caucasus .

At the end of 1842, Passek was sent to the disposal of Major General Schwartz , who was in charge of the Lezgi cordon line, where he remained until half of January 1843, when he was entrusted with the task of finding funds to supply firewood for garrisons of the fortifications of Nagorno-Dagestan, an order executed despite numerous difficulties, very successfully. From November 16 to December 19 of the same 1843, Passek led the heroic defense of the Ziryani fortification, which attracted the attention of Emperor Nicholas I : made on January 1, 1844 for honoring the colonels and appointed commander of the Absheron Infantry Regiment (February 25), he June 3, 1844 was awarded the Order of St. George 4th degree

The next day, Passek was promoted to major general. In the spring of 1844, when the outrage of Akusha and the Accident caused unrest in the Mehtuli Khanate and the possessions of Shamkhal Tarkovsky, Passek was entrusted with a detachment consisting of three battalions of the Absheron Regiment and the 38th Don Cossack Regiment consisting of six hundred and 6 mountain 10-pound guns; he took a central position between the villages of Big Dzhengutai, Durgelli, Gili, Paraul and Kaka-Shura, from where he made observations of the mountaineers who stood on a high mountain 5 miles from our camp. On June 2, the Murids occupied Kaka-Shura without resistance and on the 3rd began a battle: the 9 main Naibs of Shamil, with 27,000 people, rushed to our weak detachment, which consisted of 1,000 people at the beginning of the battle, and 1,400 people received reinforcements from Passek; Encouraged by the personal example of the general, the soldiers fought fiercely: the banner of the Dargin people was taken away, 20 badges, several hundred highlanders were killed. The most important result of this victory was the calming of Mechtulinsky and Shamkhal’s possessions, the removal of the Akushin’s people from our borders and such a decline in the spirit of the highlanders that they refused to help the former Sultan of Elisuisky, who was easily defeated by General Schwartz after 4 days. For courage in this matter, Passek was awarded the Order of St. Vladimir 3rd degree.

Three weeks after this famous victory, Passek with the Absheron regiment entrusted to him participated in the expedition of the general from the infantry Leaders to conquer the Darginsky district, and then corps commander General Neydgardt assigned Passek a detachment of 12 battalions of regiments of the Apsheronsky and Minsk infantry and Zhytomyrsky and Zhytomyrsky and Zhytomyrsky and Ljublinsky , - to punish the Salavatians for treason, which was executed by him successfully, almost without loss. After this, on November 3, 1844, Passek was appointed commander of the 2nd Brigade of the 20th Infantry Division .

In 1845, Mr .. M. Vorontsov, appointed commander in chief of a separate Caucasian corps and governor of the Caucasus, arrived in the Caucasus. Passek won the most flattering attention from him. Encouraged by the affability of his superiors, he looked forward to the outbreak of hostilities. Having handed over the Absheron Regiment to his successor, Diomid Vasilievich went to his brigade.

Soon, our troops crossed the ridges of impassable mountains, hitting the mountaineers in impregnable shelters at the heights of Anchimer and at the gates of the Andean. After a stubborn battle, they took possession of the refuge of Shamil and with bayonets paved their way forward, scattering numerous crowds of the enemy, who tried to block the further offensive movement of the detachment. In this difficult expedition, Passek was constantly in the forefront. The abandoned enemy established itself in the Michikalsky Gorge; his position was on the road to Gumbet, where Prince Vorontsov intended to move troops; in addition to this road, it was possible to go to Gumbet through Pereval-Kirk, but the latter, according to scouts, was so damaged that it was considered impassable, and therefore the mountaineers limited themselves there only to an observation post of several people. To see for himself to what extent the passage through Pereval-Kirk was possible, Prince Vorontsov came out in this direction on June 5, taking with him a small detachment of troops, the command of which entrusted Passeka. The movement was made quickly and rather secretly, but when our troops appeared on the heights and began to descend to the pass, the horsemen and foot parties of the mountaineers began to hastily draw from the Michikal position on Mount Anchimeer, which is opposite the Pass-Kirk. Passek brilliantly crossed the pass, which was considered impassable, and on July 5 took control of Mount Anchimeer with battle. At the request of Vorontsov, Passek received the Order of St. Stanislav 1st degree.

Occupation of the Anchimer Mountain opened the way for us to Salatavia and Gumbet. Passek with a vanguard of five battalions moved forward against a significant detachment of the enemy, who was watching our actions, scattered it and stopped on the road leading from Michikal through Gumbet to Andia. Meanwhile, an unusual cold came and deep snow fell in the mountains; Despite this, the troops marched with firmness and on June 14 reached the so-called Bortsukal Gate on the ridge separating Gumbet from Andia. The Highlanders have always considered this position an insurmountable barrier to the invasion of the Russians, and now Shamil has announced that he will defend it himself. But, to the surprise of everyone, he retreated and settled down with 5,000-6,000 people on the mountain dominating the main village of Andia. Our detachment descended to the village of Gogatl, and the commander-in-chief ordered Lieutenant General Kluki von Klugenau to occupy the village of Andia with a vanguard of six battalions, 4 mountain guns, Georgian police and part of the cavalry. The rush of the brave men was so swift that the affair ended soon, and the Highlanders hastily retreated. Shamil himself also fled and, after the futile extermination of the rich Andean villages, showed the ruined tribes that he was not able to stand even against a handful of Russians. Passek participated in this brilliant feat, commanding parts of the brigade entrusted to him, which undoubtedly owns most of the glory of this memorable day.

On July 6, troops marched from Andia to Dargo, the main refuge of Shamil, where they arrived in the evening. During the stay of the troops in Dargo, a convoy was separated under the command of General Kluki von Klugenau to meet the transport sent from Andia with food and other supplies. The vanguard of this column was commanded by Passek. The column met stubborn resistance of the murids due to blockages and slowly moved forward, suffering heavy losses. The rear guard, which lost 2 guns and its chief, Major General Viktorov, was particularly affected. General Klugenau, inquiring about the plight of the vanguard, sent a company to help him, suspended the vanguard and instructed Passeck to manage the battle. Only at 10 o'clock in the evening Passek approached the transport, and the night passed in the delivery of the wounded and the reception of provisions. In the morning, the troops came back. Passek still commanded the vanguard. He managed to cheer up the fallen troops so that they sang songs. He threw off his cap and crossed himself, loudly said: “God bless!” And then he added: “March, guys, God will not betray, the pig will not eat.” The vanguard set off at 10 o’clock in the morning, and after 5 minutes the battle began, lasting more than 6 hours with inexpressible tenacity and bitterness. Carrying huge losses, the avant-garde moved quietly, often stopping, clearing the path and pulling up the packs. When he reached the “unprecedented hitherto of corpses” that fell into the hands of the enemy the day before, the head battalion, instead of crossing over to stop and cover the deminers clearing the road, rushed on. Thus, the connection was broken, and the enemy, sowing in ravines and behind rubble, opened strong fire on sappers. Seeing no other means to throw the enemy off the road, how to go ahead, Passek gathered a company of Navaginians and rushed forward with it, but fell, mortally hit by a bullet. K.K. Benckendorf , who was next to Passek at the time of his death, reports his last words: "Farewell, my team."

With heavy losses, with the help of a detachment sent by Vorontsov from Dargo, General Klugenau led his detachment to the main camp. The wounded and the dead were dragged heavily on the spongs with the help of ropes. General Geiman wrote: “On one of these pubs, Passek was lying with folded arms, in a white cap, with a bloodied but perfectly calm face; he was tied, and he was dragged by two Don Cossacks dragged, as in a sleigh. " When descending from one mountain due to negligence, Passek’s remains jumped off a lubok and fell into a deep ravine, from which it was no longer possible to lift the corpse "to give back and the last tear, and the last honor heroically to the fallen and beloved boss."

Passek was one of those Caucasian heroes who, thanks to their talents and courage, quickly moved out of the general environment. His name in the 40s of the XIX century boomed throughout the Caucasus and was known outside of it. The popularity that he has gained among the soldiers over the past three years of short-term service resembles the staple charm. V.N. Norov in his memoirs about the Dargin campaign wrote about Passek: "Giving full justice to the memory of the deceased, it remains to add that there are few similar Passek in the Caucasus, and not complain, but one should be surprised at his fearlessness with a sense of reverential delight about the brave." Count K.K. Benkendorf left a vivid portrait of Diomid Vasilievich: “Behind him were indisputably outstanding military merits and qualities. Possessing an extraordinary eye and courage bordering on courage, extreme self-confidence, energy and unshakable will, Passek, at the same time, with unlimited ambition, was extremely proud. He gave the impression of a mighty lion who had just broken his chains. ” General Geiman, who studied with Passek at the Military Academy and also who was in the battle near Dargo, complements Benckendorff’s words: “Passek's distinctive feature was that he could not go along with others, but certainly wanted to be in front. His abilities were extraordinary, his memory was amazing, his moral and physical strength, his youthfulness, and, finally, the gift of words, which he often abused, very fond of arguing. ”

Having received an excellent education, Passek loved literature and studied it himself; from his writings the remarkable “Comparison of Charles XII with Peter the Great as Generals”; the first part was published in his Essays on Russia, published by his brother Vadim in 1840 (Prince IV); in “Toy” for 1880 (No. 32) and 1883 (No. 20) his “Memories of Siberia and Kazan (1826)” were placed.

• Belt-warrant officer of the 1st class (02.01.1830) ^[1]
• Ensign (06/22/1830)
• Second Lieutenant (07/11/1831)
• Lieutenant (06/09/1832)
• Captain (12/06/1836)
• Lieutenant Colonel (06/09/1841)
• Colonel for honors (01.01.1844)
• Major General (02.26.1844)

• Order of St. Stanislav 3 tbsp. (09/05/1839) ^[1]
• Order of St. Anne 3 tbsp. with a bow (11/05/1842)
• Order of St. George 4 tbsp. (02/25/1844)
• Order of St. Vladimir 3 tbsp. (09/29/1844)
• Order of St. Stanislav 1 tbsp. (1845)

• Passek, Diomid Vasilievich // Russian Biographical Dictionary : in 25 volumes. - SPb. - M. , 1896-1918.
• Passek, Diomid Vasilievich // Military Encyclopedia : [in 18 vol.] / Ed. V.F. Novitsky [et al.]. - SPb. ; [ M. ]: Type. t-va I. D. Sytin , 1911-1915.
• Glinotsky N.P. Historical outline of the Nikolaev Academy of the General Staff. - St. Petersburg, 1882.
• Dargin tragedy. 1845 year. Memoirs of the participants of the Caucasian war of the XIX century. - SPb., 2001.