Siege of Ochakov (1788)

For other uses, see Siege of Ochakov (disambiguation).

The siege of Ochakov (Russian: осада Очакова) or the siege of Özi (Turkish: Özi Kuşatması), now Ochakiv, Ukraine, was one of the major events of the Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792). The Ochakov Fortress had the appearance of an irregular quadrangle, consisting of low bastions with a dry moat and glacis on the dry side, and a simple stone wall on the sea side. In addition, 10 advanced lunettes built later extended from the dry side. At the moment the siege began, the fortress was a strong fence, but was not able to withstand an active, energetic storming for long. Ochakov was not what it was in the old days, under Münnich in 1737, but it still did not represent an impregnable stronghold that required enormous preparations and expenditure of time. During a daring sortie of 7 August 1788, the Turks under Hüseyin Pasha managed to rout Suvorov's troops, who was seriously wounded and gave his post to General Bibikov. With the arrival of winter, Potemkin decided to stop the siege works and begin the storming of Ochakov (Russian: штурм Очакова) on 17 December [O.S. 6 December] 1788, which ended in Russian success and capture of Hüseyin Pasha.^[6]

Siege of Ochakov (1788)
Part of the Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792)
The Siege of the Fortress Ochakov on December 1788, by January Suchodolski
Date May 20 – December 6 (N.S.: May 31 – Dec. 17), 1788 Location Özi, Ottoman Empire (now Ochakiv, Ukraine) 46.6186°N 31.5392°E / 46.6186; 31.5392 Result Russian victory
Belligerents
Russia	Ottoman Empire
Commanders and leaders
Grigori Potemkin[1] Alexander Suvorov (WIA) Charles-Henri-Othon de Nassau-Siegen John Paul Jones	Hüseyin Pasha (POW) Cezayirli Gazi Hasan Pasha
Strength
40,000[2]	20,000[2]
Casualties and losses
Final assault: 2,785[3]–3,000[2] to 6,000[4] (956–1,000 killed and 1,829–5,000 wounded) Total: 15,000[2]	Final assault: 12,700–13,500 (8,700[4] to 9,500 killed, >4,000 captured)[3] Total: 20,000 dead (city garrison)[2][5] Loss at sea: 18 ships or vessels, 7,800+ men[6]

In 1788, Russian forces led by the commander in chief Prince Grigory Potemkin, General Alexander Suvorov, who was called here from near Kinburn Spit with his Phanagorian Regiment and commanded the left wing, Prince Nikolai Repnin (the center) and Ivan Möller (the right wing) besieged the city,^[6] held by Ottoman troops massively assisted at sea by Hasan Pasha, whose knowledge exceeded the Turkish military level of that time, and commanded by Hüseyin Pasha.^[4] Despite Suvorov's urging to storm the city immediately, Potemkin had the Russian forces encircle Ochakov (Özi), bombarding the city and cutting off the defenders' supply of food and ammunition. By keeping his soldiers out of direct battle, Potemkin minimized Russian combat-casualties, though he was accused by his generals, including Suvorov,^[2] of cowardice. The argument within the Russian headquarters about storming Ochakov continued during the entirety of the siege. The rowing flotilla was commanded by Prince Karl (Charles) Nassau-Siegen, the sailing fleet by Paul Jones, a fighter for American independence; the latter stood in subordination of the first. There was no great agreement between them. Nassau and Jones were subordinate to Potemkin.^[6]

During the siege, there were pretty large naval battle of 18 June 1788 and battle of 28 June 1788. In the second, the most successful for the Russians, the Turks lost 16 ships/vessels thanks to the joint actions of Nassau's flotilla and Suvorov's coastal artillery.^[6]

Before the siege

Potemkin maintained correspondence with Suvorov, treating him with favor and trust; he reported political news, sent samples of variable weapons and equipment, congratulated him on holidays. Once he sent him his greatcoat, asking him to wear it instead of a dressing gown. There were very good relations between them. Among other things, he subordinated rowboats to Suvorov, the command of which he entrusted to Prince Nassau-Siegen. Initially, the Russian fleet was far inferior in strength to Turkey and consisted of light ships.^[6]

Encounter

The first combat was on May 31 (O.S. 20 May^[6]), with the arrival of the Turkish navy. The Russian flotilla lost a double-sloop while attempting to retreat.

A heated battle ensued on 18 June (O.S. 7 June), which ended late at night with failure for the Turks. Two of their ships were blown up, a third caught fire, and 18 were damaged. Russian losses were negligible, the number of damaged ships is unknown, the entire operation was conducted exclusively by Nassau's rowing flotilla. The Turkish flotilla of light ships has stopped along the Ochakov coast. At the action of 7 June, both the numerical strength of the Turkish fleet and the personal qualities of Hasan Pasha served as a guarantee for the fact that the Turks were not broken. Suvorov did not lose sight of this consideration and assessed the importance of Kinburn spit.^[6]

Suvorov heavily armed the Kinburn Spit, recently withheld by him from a Turkish storming, with artillery batteries. Hasan Pasha was actively eager and preparing for the sea battle. However, he was late, because the night before the battle, 22 new armed vessels arrived from Kremenchug to reinforce the Russian flotilla. Suvorov's batteries helped to sink 7 ships on 28 June (O.S. 17 June). On this day, when the naval battle became fierce and continued without any advantage in either direction until one Turkish ship was blown up. This caused panic among the Turks, and all their ships rushed under the fortress, except for the Kapudan Pasha Hasan's flagship. The Russian rowboats, noticing its solitude, surrounded and captured it; only Hasan Pasha managed to escape. A disorderly flight began; the Prince of Nassau pursued. With the help of Suvorov's coastal artillery, 15 ships and other vessels were eliminated in total, one ship was captured, up to 6,000 men were killed, wounded, and drowned, about 1,800 were captured. The Russians lost under 100 men here.^[6]

The Russian army began assaulting the city on July 9.^[7]

On July 18, 1788, the Russians captured the strategically important Pirezin Island.

Potemkin's inactivity produced results directly opposite to those he had hoped for. The Turks were emboldened, spreading out over the vineyards and gardens bordering Ochakov. They made several attempts to break the siege and made it difficult to open siege works by making small but frequent sorties. On 7 August (O.S. 27 July), about 5,000 Janissaries attacked positions held by Cossacks and forced them to retreat. Suvorov personally led reinforcement of 2 grenadier battalions, and the Turks also received reinforcements. Colonel Zolotukhin brought another grenadier battalion, charging with bayonets. They drove the Janissaries to the gates of Ochakov without Potemkin's permission. Several more Russian battalions arrived, and the Turks also arrived; the battle flared up fiercely under one of the Ottoman retrenchments. The day before, a young baptized Turk who knew Suvorov by sight had escaped from the Russian camp. This fugitive had noticed Suvorov in battle and pointed him out to a Turkish marksman; he took aim, the bullet pierced Suvorov's neck and stopped at the back of his head. Suvorov felt the wound, declared it dangerous, and handed over command to Lieutenant General Bibikov. The Russian troops were broken and driven back in dissaray. According to Russian data, the Russians lost 365 killed and wounded here. Suvorov's guilt on 7 August is justified, but it was Potemkin either, who did not support the attack. There was another attempted Turkish breakout that month that led to a stalemate between two armies.^[6][2] Catherine was informed about the unsuccessful action. Passing this news to one of her secretaries of state, she said:

"Suvorov was naughty; rushing in without permission, he lost about 400 men and was wounded himself; he was certainly drunk."^[6]

After all that had happened, Suvorov's state of health did not allow to remain at his post near Ochakov. On the third or fourth day he left for Kinburn, as he himself explains, to keep an eye on the enemy fleet and, after the capture of Ochakov, not to let it into the liman. He arrived there ill, fainting followed fainting, he was feverish, breathing was difficult, jaundice appeared. The illness threatened a bad outcome, but the patient slept well. They called a council, examined the wound again and made a second dressing, since the first one had been hastily applied poorly. The wound turned out to be inflamed and unclean: several pieces of cloth and lining were removed from it. Then an improvement began, and in a month Suvorov recovered. Suvorov endured excruciating physical and mental anxiety. He tried to appease Potemkin, wrote to him vaguely, in hints and half-phrases, apparently restraining himself and searching for words; but he succeeded only partially.^[6]

Hasan Pasha expected reinforcements from the Turkish fleet, which gathered in limans. However, Turkish reinforcements were cut off after being attacked by Senyavin's division.

It was deep autumn. Previously, life had been in full swing in the camp and headquarters; the company was numerous, there were many visiting ladies; feasts and balls were given, music thundered, various rare provisions were brought from everywhere by specially sent messengers to Potemkin's table. Things were not moving forward, but they were living happily. Now this too had passed; the inclement weather had driven away some, the long wait for the outcome — others. Potemkin became more gloomy with each passing day. Then the wet cold autumn gave way to a fierce winter, which for a long time remained in the people's memory under the name of "Ochakov winter." Mortality became extreme, with 30–40 people dying per day from the cold alone.^[6] The conditions of both armies continued to decline, with the looming threat of disease and increasingly cold weather. Potemkin ultimately gave in to Suvorov's arguments for an assault on Ochakov. On the night of December 6 (December 17 in the Gregorian calendar), the Russians attacked and captured Hüseyin Pasha's palace, forcing its guards to surrender. Over 9,500 Turks were killed during the assault, and more than 4,000 were taken prisoner,^[3] including Hüseyin Pasha himself. Most of the city garrison was killed in the street fight. It lost about 20,000 men in all siege, or more simply, was destroyed.^[5][2] The Russians lost 956 soldiers and had 1,829 wounded by the end of the operation, which they spent within hours (as per another assessment, 1,000 lost and 5,000 injured^[4]). In total, the Russians paid a high price: 15,000 men out of 40,000 during the siege.^[3][2]

Aftermath

Colonel of the Second Bug Regiment Pyotr Mikhailovich Skarzhinsky [ru] "distinguished himself during the capture of Ochakov." He was one of the first to climb the ramparts of the fortress. He was awarded Russia's most prestigious military decoration the Order of St. George.^[8]

The Russian victory was celebrated in a famous ode by Gavrila Derzhavin, and in a Te Deum by Giuseppe Sarti.

See also

• Naval actions at the Siege of Ochakov (1788)

Storming of Ochakov by Adam Bartsch