September 7, 1792 the ships of the Black Sea Cossack army moored to the shores of the Taman Peninsula.

From that moment, the process of resettlement of the Black Sea Cossacks to the Kuban began.

According to historians, the Black Sea and Kuban Cossack troops later made a great contribution to the defense and expansion of the southern borders of the Russian Empire.

Creation of the Black Sea Cossack army

The Cossacks have historically played an important role in strengthening and expanding the southern borders of Russia.

One of the Cossack troops that took part in this process was Zaporozhye, who swore allegiance to the Russian Tsar in 1654 at the Pereyaslav Rada.

However, in the second half of the 18th century, the military need for its existence in the old place (in the lower reaches of the Dnieper) disappeared.

According to the terms of the Kyuchuk-Kaynarji peace treaty of 1774 between Russia and Turkey, Crimea became independent from the Ottoman Empire.

According to historians, Russian influence has increased on the peninsula.

“Since it was no longer necessary to defend the borders of Russia from the Crimean Khanate, the need for the existence of the Zaporizhzhya Sich in the old place disappeared,” said Alexei Rezepkin, a senior researcher at the IIMK RAS, in a conversation with RT.

In 1775, Empress Catherine II officially announced the liquidation of the Zaporozhian Sich.

However, the Cossacks did not want to change their status, turning into ordinary peasants or state settlers.

In 1787, when the queen was traveling through the southern regions of Russia, Grigory Potemkin introduced her to the former representatives of the Zaporizhzhya Cossack elders, who petitioned the ruler to restore their troops.

According to historians, they chose the right time to discuss the issue.

It was obvious that the Russian Empire was waiting for new wars with Turkey.

From the former Cossacks, they began to hastily form the "Army of the Black Sea Faithful Cossacks."

A year later, it was renamed the Black Sea Cossack Army.

In addition to the former Cossacks, "hunters from free people" were recruited into the ranks of the new Cossacks - that is, any volunteers.

  • Black Sea Cossack, illustration for the "Description of all peoples living in the Russian state", 1799

  • © Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain

Initially, the Black Sea Cossack army was located between the rivers Dniester and Southern Bug.

But the change in the geopolitical situation in the Northern Black Sea region opened up new prospects for the Cossacks.

The Peace of Yassy, ​​signed with the Ottoman Empire on January 9, 1792, officially confirmed the expansion of Russia's borders in the south to the Kuban River.

However, as historians note, peoples lived in the neighborhood of these territories in the Caucasus, some of which remained under strong Turkish influence, so the new borders had to be strengthened.

It was decided to involve the Black Sea Cossacks in this process.

“New territories had to be explored in the North Caucasus, and the Cossacks were the best suited for this business,” Professor Igor Kurukin of the Russian State Humanitarian University emphasized in a conversation with RT.

  • Flags of the Black Sea Cossack Host: military banner of 1788 (1), banners of 1803 granted by Alexander I (2) and smoking badges of 1788 granted by Catherine II (3)

  • © Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain

In June 1792, Catherine II, by her decree "for courageous deeds on land and waters and fearless loyalty during the successfully ended war with the Port of Otoman" granted the Black Sea Cossack army the land between the Kuban River and the Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov, emphasizing that the Cossacks "belong vigil and guard the border from the raids of the peoples of the Trans-Kuban.

The eastern neighbors of the Black Sea were line Cossacks, who advanced from the Don.

The relocation of the Black Sea Cossack army was led by the ataman Zakhary Chepega, the hero of the assault on Ochakov and Ishmael, holder of the orders of St. George of the 3rd and 4th degrees and St. Vladimir of the 3rd degree.

  • Fragment of the map "Dominions of Russia in Europe" with the lands of the "Black Sea Cossack Troops", published according to drawings and maps of the Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg, 1806

  • © HOBOPOCC/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 3.0

On September 7, 1792, the ships of the Black Sea Cossack army approached the shores of the Taman Peninsula.

According to historians, this caused a stir among the soldiers of the local garrison, who feared that the aliens might turn out to be Turkish troops.

However, they were reassured by the sight of the Russian naval Andreevsky flag flying on the mast of one of the ships.

Some time after the crews of the flotilla landed on the shore, other Black Sea Cossacks began to arrive on Taman, moving to a new place of service by land along the coast.

Sea of ​​Azov under the direct command of Chepega.

Chernomortsy and Kuban

In 1793, the Cossacks, having coordinated their actions with the command of the Separate Caucasian Corps, began the construction of the Black Sea line of fortifications.

According to historians, Chepega himself chose a place for the foundation of a military city in the Karasunsky Kut tract on the banks of the Kuban.

It was named in honor of Empress Catherine II Yekaterinodar (nowadays the city of Krasnodar).

In addition, the Cossacks founded about 40 kurens (later villages) in the Kuban.

Each Cossack had to carry out field service for 22 years and garrison service for three years.

The Black Sea Cossack army contained a cordon line and occupied the fortifications in front of it.

Over each Cossack fortification, an observation tower was installed.

If the duty officer noticed the approach of the enemy, then the Cossacks reported the danger to their neighbors by raising the balls over the watchtower or lighting a huge torch.

  • Map of the lands of the Black Sea and Caucasian Linear Cossack troops, 1858

  • © Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain

According to the regulation of 1802, in the event of war, the Black Sea Cossack army was to provide the army with 10 cavalry and 10 foot regiments.

In the 19th century, the ranks of the Black Sea army were replenished by about 70 thousand Cossacks from other formations.

In the middle of the century, the army consisted of 12 cavalry regiments, 9 foot battalions of scouts, 2 guard squadrons, 3 batteries and a horse artillery company.

The total number of the Black Sea Cossack troops by 1860, together with members of the families of the Cossacks, reached 200 thousand people.

Black Sea Cossacks distinguished themselves during the Caucasian and Crimean wars, as well as in the Russian-Turkish wars.

  • Cossack escort on the Kuban border, drawing by Auguste Raffet, first half of the 19th century

  • Gettyimages.ru

  • © Heritage Art/Heritage Images

From the Cossack units that served east of the Black Sea and, together with them, defended the fortification system created in the North Caucasus, in 1832 the Caucasian linear Cossack army was organized, whose headquarters was first in Pyatigorsk, and then in Stavropol.

It was allowed to record volunteers from among the regular troops in its composition.

In 1860, the authorities of the empire decided to create a single Kuban Cossack army based in Yekaterinodar on the basis of the Black Sea and part of the Linear Cossack Army.

Two years later, several tens of thousands of Cossacks from other formations, state peasants and military personnel of the Caucasian army, who moved to the foothills of the Caucasus, also joined its composition.

In 1864, Cossacks from the disbanded Azov Cossack Army joined the ranks of the Kuban.

  • Trumpeter of the Horse Artillery Batteries of the Black Sea Cossack Army, drawing by an unknown author of the 19th century

  • © Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain

Kuban Cossacks lived in 278 villages and 32 farms.

When the army published the newspaper "Kuban Military Bulletin" and operated its own museum of local lore.

Kuban Cossacks participated in all major wars waged by the Russian Empire in the late 19th and early 20th centuries: in the Caucasian War, in the Khiva campaign, in the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-78, the Russian-Japanese and World War I.

To participate in the latter, the Kuban fielded 37 cavalry regiments, 22 battalions of scouts and dozens of other units with a total number of about 110 thousand people.

  • Kuban Cossacks, 1915

  • Gettyimages.ru

  • © Hulton Archive

During the years of the Civil War, the Kubans were split: some supported the Soviet government, others supported the White movement.

Many fought in the Armed Forces of the South of Russia.

In 1920, the Kuban Cossack army was disbanded.

But in the 1920-1930s, the leadership of the USSR created Kuban Cossack cavalry units as part of the Red Army.

  • Kuban Cossacks, late 19th century photograph

  • © Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain

During the Great Patriotic War, they fought as part of the 17th Cossack Cavalry Corps, which was renamed the 4th Guards Cossack Cavalry Kuban Corps for the valor shown by its servicemen.

According to MPGU professor Vitaly Zakharov, the Black Sea and Kuban Cossacks played an important role in the history of Russia, and in particular in the formation and strengthening of its southern borders.

  • Kuban Cossack, USSR, photograph, 1935

  • Gettyimages.ru

  • © Buyenlarge

“These were units ideally suited for carrying out border service in the conditions of the 18th-19th centuries - they knew the area well and did not require large subsidies, thanks to independent economic activity.

Thanks to them, the new border was under reliable protection, ”summed up Vitaly Zakharov.