Siege of Izmail

The storming of Izmail in 1790 was undertaken by order of the commander-in-chief of the United Southern Army, Field Marshal Grigory Potyomkin. Neither Nikolay Repnin (1789), nor Ivan Gudovich, nor Pavel Potyomkin (March, 1790) were able to meet the challenge, after which Grigory Potyomkin assigned the task to Alexander Suvorov.

Suvorov's troops consisted of: the right wing, commanded by Pavel Potyomkin, formed out of the columns of Lvov, Lacy, and Meknob; the left wing, commanded by Alexander Samoylov, formed out of the columns of Orlov, Platov, and Golenishchev-Kutuzov; the fleet — Iosif Deribas — his landing columns under the command of Arseniev, Chepiha, and Markov.[3] The Russians had only 20 field guns, but not siege guns at all. Deribas had around 500 ship cannons. Alexander Suvorov personally inspected the Izmail fortress; his aim was to squeeze the fortress into pincers by the forces of Potyomkin, Samoylov, and Deribas. According to his concepion, the Turks were to scatter their forces greatly and would not be able to support each other in the event of a possible breakthrough of any of the sections. This applies not only to the Ottoman soldiers, but also to their guns, many of whom would also go to defend against the Deribas flotilla, rather than against Suvorov's main assault columns.

One day before the assault (December 21), Alexander ordered to bombard Izmail (with naval and ground cannons). An artillery duel took place between the flotilla and the coastal batteries. The ship cannons overwhelmed the Ottoman coastal guns that were aimed at the flotilla. Thanks to the fleet, the Russians had an advantage in guns. But, the firefight started unsuccessfully for the Russians, since the lucky Ottoman cannonball hit the powder chamber of the frigate Konstantin, after which it took off into the air, but this did not help the Turks either. The bombardment continued until 3:00 am, but since there were no siege guns on land, the walls could not be breached.

In 22 December 1790, the Russians began prepare for the assault Izmail, a fortress built under the direction of German and French engineers, in the region of Budjak (now in Ukraine), which had a garrison of 35,000-40,000 soldiers (15,000-20,000 regular troops, 20,000 militia). The only unprotected section of the fortress was from the Danube, which was supposed to be defended by ships. Yet the Ottoman fleet had already been destroyed by the Russian one during the Battle of Tendra by the great Russia's admiral of those times — Fyodor Ushakov. Suvorov had 31,000 troops (of which 15,000 are irregular).

On the early dusky morning, the Russians hoped to take the enemy by surprise, however, information about Suvorov's plans of assault was leaked to the Turkish camp. The Russians assaulted the city at 5:30 am. They advanced on the north, east, and west.[1] The walls were weaker there than in other places, where it took Russian troops longer and harder to attack. By 8:00 am the Russians had entered the city, including the landing columns of Deribas from the south, which also sailed to storm on Suvorov's orders.

The Russians made their way into the Old and the New Fortresses, as well as the Citadel. Garrisoned Crimean Tatars, commanded by Qaplan Geray (cousin of the last Crimean Khan), then made a desperate attempt to recapture Izmail with 3,000 men in the Old Fortress. They overturned the Black Sea Cossacks, but the regular infantry stopped this onslaught. 5 of Qaplan's sons were killed, including Maqsud Geray, descendant of Genghis Khan himself.

In total, the Ottoman forces had more than 26,000 casualties with the almost whole garrison being killed. Those who were wounded were captured. Russian forces suffered only 4,330 casualties, out of which 1,815 were killed.[1] Mikhail Golenishchev-Kutuzov was appointed commandant of the fortress for his courage in battle. And Catherine II awarded Suvorov the rank of lieutenant colonel of the Preobrazhensky Life Guards Regiment, where she herself was a colonel.

To the victory was dedicated the anthem "Grom pobedy, razdavaysya!" (Let the thunder of victory sound!) which was an unofficial Russian national anthem in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Today it is commemorated as a Day of Military Honour in Russia. Along with the Battle of Praga, the Storming of Izmail is one of Suvorov's fabulous military achievements.

The siege is dramatized in cantos 7 and 8 of Lord Byron's verse-novel Don Juan (1823). His principal source, he states in the preface, was Gabriel de Castelnau's account of the siege in Essai sur l’histoire ancienne et moderne de la Nouvelle Russie (1820).

The monument to Alexander Suvorov in Izmail's city centre was placed in temporary storage on 12 November 2022, until city deputies decide where it will be kept permanently.[5]

• Russian armies captured a Turkish fortress Izmail (Yeltsin Presidential Library)
• Grant, R. G. (2017). 1001 Battles That Changed the Course of History. Chartwell Books. ISBN 978-0-7858-3553-0.
• "Измаил, город". Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary: In 86 Volumes (82 Volumes and 4 Additional Volumes). St. Petersburg. 1890–1907.