The Anapa Campaign in Winter 1790 was a military expedition launched by the Russians to capture the fortress of Anapa. The expedition ended in fiasco for the Russian army.
Background
The fort of Anapa is located on Krasnodar Krai facing the black sea and Crimea. In the past centuries, it was a lively trading post where many Turks, Greeks, and Genoese came to buy slaves from Circassia and Abkhazia. By the end of the 18th century, the fort became a battleground for between the Ottomans, Russians, Circassians, Crimean, and Nogai due to its strategic location. In the year 1787, the Ottoman Empire declared war on Russia. The Chechen leader, Sheikh Mansur, who was allied at that time with the Ottomans, took a position to defend Anapa from the Russians.
Campaign
On March 1790, the Russians dispatched a military expedition to conquer the Ottoman fort of Anapa. The fort had a garrison of 15,000 men, led by Battal Hussein Pasha. The Russians were led by General Yuri Bibikov, who had a force of 12,000 men. Yuri arrived at a village nearby the fort and attacked it. He began attacking some Circassian and Nogai tribes, successfully defeating them. Battal Pasha dispatched a force under Kose Mustasa Pasha to aid the tribes; however, he was defeated and was forced back to the fort.
After his victory, Yuri attacked the fort of Anapa on March 24. The Russian troops did not have scaling ladders, horses, and foodstuffs, and the hostile Caucasian population began attacking the Russians instead of supporting them. The Russian attack on the fort was repulsed due to heavy Ottoman artillery and constant attacks from the forces of Sheikh Mansur. The Russians called off the attack and withdrew. Yuri has lost 5,000 men and an additional 1,000 sick and wounded who died 40 days later. The Russian Tsarina, Catherine the Great, dismissed Yuri and later was sent for trial.
See also
Anapa Campaign (1787) — First Russian campaign against Anapa
Anapa Campaign (1788) — Second Russian campaign against Anapa
References
Wars involving Chechnya
Wars involving Russia
Conflicts in 1790
History of Chechnya
1790 in the Russian Empire
Sheikh Mansur Movement
Battles of the Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792) Battles involving the Ottoman Empire
Bibliography
Sergei R. Grinevetsky، Igor S. Zonn، Sergei S. Zhiltsov، Aleksey N. Kosarev، Andrey G. Kostianoy (2014), The Black Sea Encyclopedia. M. Sadık Bilge (2005), Osmanlı Devleti ve Kafkasya: Osmanlı varlığı döneminde Kafkasya'nın siyasî-askerî tarihi ve idarî taksimâtı, 1454-1829.