the lion of the russian army - Florida State University

emaining 11,000 men to positions two miles in front of Kalipetri. 47 He arranged the
army in two lines, with six Cossack regiments in first line, and the infantry deployed in
six squares in the second line. The regular cavalry and some sixty guns were deployed
between the squares. 48
At 4:00 a.m. on 22 October, Bagration ordered the advance. Bakhmetyev’s square
was first to advance against the Turkish central battery; it came under the fire of the
Turkish guns and the Janissaries hidden in the bushes. Bagration ordered Bakhmetyev to
deploy four guns in front of the square to silence the Turkish artillery. The Russian
skirmishers 49 drove the Janissaries back, but the Turks counterattacked from the central
battery in an attempt to destroy the guns in front of Bakhmetyev’s square. Bagration
47 Bagration had 16 infantry battalions (some 4,500 men), 25 squadrons of cavalry and 10
Cossacks regiments. He estimated Turkish force at 20,000 men. Langeron, Recollections,
Russkaia starina, 135 (1908): 406.
48 Bagration’s detailed order of battles was as follows:
First line: Paul Ilovaysky II’s, Timofei Ilovaysky XI’s, Vasilii Ilovaysky XII’s, Ataman’s,
Aleksey Sysoev’s and Barabanshikov’s Cossack Regiments.
Second line:
1 st square - Moscow Grenadier Regiment under Karl von
Right Flank: Mecklenburg;
2 nd square - Malorossiiski Grenadier Regiment under Antoine
Palageika;
3 rd square - Voronezh Musketeer Regiment and 3 battalions of
Arkhangelogorod Infantry Regiment under Bakhmetyev;
4 th square - Ukraine Infantry Regiment under Kushnikov;
Center:
5 th square - Novgorod Musketeer Regiment under Sergei Repninsky.
Left Flank:
6 th square - 7 th Jager Regiment and battalion of the 14 th Jagers under
Prince Troubetskoy.
The cavalry regiments were deployed in the following order: Belorussia Hussars (Colonel
Sergei Lanskoi) on the right flank of 1 st square; Sever Dragoon Regiment (Major General Luke
Denisov) between 1 st and 3 rd squares; Starodoub Dragoon Regiment between 3 rd and 4 th squares;
Derpt Dragoon Regiment and 4 guns of Don horse artillery, under command of Major General
Paul Pahlen II, between 4 th and 5 th squares; Kuteinikov’s and Melnikov’s Cossack regiments
between 5 th and 6 th squares; and Nikolai Ilovaisky V’s and Joseph Ilovaisky X’s Cossack
Regiments on extreme left flank. Dubrovin, “Materials for the History of Reign of Alexander,”
Voennii sbornik, 1 (1865): 7; Mikhailovsky-Danilevsky, Russo-Turkish War of 1806-1812, 133;
Langeron, Recollections, Russkaia starina, 135 (1908): 408.
49 Bagration also sent skirmishers from Repninsky’s square and 150 dismounted Cossacks in
the attack.
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