Uprising of the Chernigov regiment 1825. Decembrists. Reasons for the defeat of the Decembrists

The first information about the uprising on December 14, 1825 was received in the South on December 25. The defeat did not shake the determination of the members of the Southern Society to begin the performance. Yes, and it was impossible to hesitate. On December 13, Pestel was arrested. And although he denied everything during the first interrogations, the southerners knew that the government, from the denunciations of Boshnyak and captain of the Vyatka regiment Mayboroda, had information about the composition of the Southern society and its activities. Following Pestel, other members of the Tulchin council were captured. Any day now, the remaining members of the Southern Society, and above all the leaders of the Vasylkiv council, could be arrested.

Having learned about Pestel's arrest, S. Muravyov-Apostol, together with his brother Matvey 24, went to Zhitomir to inform members of society of his intention to start a performance, relying on the Chernigov regiment, and to enlist their support. From Zhitomir the brothers left for Lyubar, where the Akhtyrsky Hussar Regiment was located, commanded by a member of the society A. Z. Muravyov. On December 27, shortly after the arrival of the Muravyov brothers in Lyubar, M. Bestuzhev-Ryumin rode here, who reported that the regiment commander Gebel had received an order to arrest S. Muravyov, but, not finding him in Vasilkovo, he went with a gendarmerie officer to search for him .

S. Muravyov suggested that A. Muravyov immediately assemble the Akhtyrsky Regiment, go to Troyanov, take along the Alexandria Hussar Regiment located there, then move to Zhitomir and arrest the command of the 3rd Corps there.

A. Muravyov refused to speak out immediately, but promised to support the uprising of the Chernigov regiment. On December 28, Muravyov and his companions arrived in the village. Trilesy, where the 5th company of the Chernigov regiment was stationed, whose commander was a member of the Society of United Slavs A.D. Kuzmin.

By order of S. Muravyov, M. Bestuzhev went to Novograd-Volynsk to organize a performance there of units in which members of the secret society served. S. Muravyov sent a soldier to Vasilkov with a note and invited members of the society, company commanders, Kuzmin, M.A. Shchepillo, V.N. Solovyov to come to him. Having received the note, these, joined by I.I. Sukhinov, we immediately left for Trilesy. Having learned that the Muravyov brothers had been arrested by Gebel and a gendarmerie officer who had arrived here, members of the society released them. The liberation of S. Muravyov on December 29 was actually the beginning of the uprising of the Chernigov regiment.

S. Muravyov saw the immediate task as raising the entire Chernigov regiment. On the same day, the 5th company went to the village. Kovalevka, where it merged with the 2nd. On December 30, the rebels moved to Vasilkov, where the remaining companies of the Chernigov regiment were stationed, but before reaching it, they stopped in the town of Mytintsy. Here they were met by M. Bestuzhev, who failed to get to Novograd-Volynsk. An attempt by Major Trukhin, who remained the regiment commander, to organize resistance was unsuccessful. The soldiers of the Chernigov regiment enthusiastically greeted the rebels and went over to their side.

In Vasilkovo, the regiment's food supplies passed into the hands of the rebels. “The night from December 30 to 31,” writes Gorbachevsky, “was spent in preparations for the campaign.”

In Vasilkov, a question arose about a plan for further action. At the military council convened to develop it, the Slavs - Sukhinov, Shchepillo, Kuzmin and Solovyov - spoke out in favor of an immediate campaign against Kyiv.

The occupation of this large center in the south of the country opened up great prospects for the further course of the uprising.

S. Muravyov, in principle, did not object to the opportunity to Kyiv. “From Vasilkov I could act in three ways: 1st go to Kyiv, 2nd go to Bila Tserkva and 3rd move more quickly to Zhitomir and try to unite with the Slavs. Of these three plans, I leaned more towards the last and first,” S. Muravyov testified at the investigation. Zhitomir was located in the center of the location of units that were influenced by members of the secret society. The headquarters of the 3rd Infantry Corps was also located here. Capturing it and arresting its command would have prevented the possibility of organizing forces to suppress the uprising. That is why S. Muravyov preferred the third option. However, the headquarters of the uprising refused an immediate march to Zhitomir due to insufficient available forces and the failure of M. Bestuzhev’s attempts to establish contact with the Slavs and the nearby Kremenchug and Aleksopol regiments.

The council decided to move to Brusilov. This decision did not mean abandoning the plan to march on Kyiv or Zhitomir.

On December 31 in the afternoon, the regimental priest read the “Orthodox Catechism” to the soldiers of the Chernigov regiment and the residents of Vasilkov, a program document revealing the revolutionary goals of the uprising. It was compiled by S. Muravyov. In this document, the kings were declared “oppressors of the people” who stole their freedom. Dressed in religious form, the “catechism” was directed against autocracy and proclaimed the natural equality of all people.

After reading the catechism, S. Muravyov addressed the rebels with a short speech, in which he explained the content and meaning of the revolutionary slogans of the uprising. He spoke about the need to proclaim freedom in Russia, about reducing the length of military service, about easing the situation of the peasants, and called on soldiers to defend freedom.

On the same day, the rebels went to Brusilov. Along the way, the rebels proclaimed the freedom of the peasants. Local residents treated the rebels with great sympathy. During the guard tour, the peasants joyfully greeted Muravyov and said to him: “May God help you, our good colonel, our savior...” They cordially received his soldiers, took care of them and supplied them with everything in abundance, seeing them not as guests, and defenders.

Having learned about the movement of troops in the Brusilov area, the leaders of the uprising decided to move to Bila Tserkva. Here they were counting on the 17th Jaeger Regiment joining the Chernigovites. On January 2, 1826, the rebels set out towards the Belaya Tserkov and, not reaching 15 versts before it, stopped in the village. Canopies. Having learned that the 17th Jaeger Regiment had been withdrawn from Bila Tserkva, the rebels on January 3 headed again to Kovalevka and Trilesy, from where they began their performance, intending to move to Zhitomir to join the units in which members of the Society of United Slavs served.

However, time was lost. The command of the 3rd Corps seized the initiative and, concentrating large military forces, began encircling the rebels. On January 3, on the way from Kovalevka to Trilesy, the Chernigov regiment was met by a detachment of General Geismar, who opened fire on the rebels with grapeshot. The Chernigovites went on the attack, but being shot at point-blank range and suffering losses, they rushed back. S. Muravyov was seriously wounded in the head and could not control the battle. Shchepillo was killed, Kuzmin was wounded. The defeat of the rebels was completed by the cavalry.

The performance of the Chernigov regiment took place in unfavorable conditions for the Decembrists. The uprising in St. Petersburg was suppressed. The arrest of Pestel and the refusal of a number of members of the Southern Society to take decisive action and support the Chernigov Regiment made it easier for the government to fight the rebels. The uprising in the south, as well as in St. Petersburg, did not rely on the people. During the uprising of the Chernigov regiment, the same tactical mistakes were made as on Senate Square on December 14, 1825.

I.A.Mironova“...Their case is not lost”

Members of the Southern and Northern societies, along with constitutional and program projects, also developed a specific plan of action. They intended to carry out a coup d'etat during military exercises in the summer of 1826. They were to be supported by the Polish Patriotic Society and the Society of United Slavs, united with the Southern Society.

In November 1825, Alexander 1 unexpectedly died in Taganrog while traveling around Russia. He had no children. According to seniority, his brother Constantine was to become the new king. But back in the early 20s, he abdicated the throne in connection with his marriage to the Polish princess Lowicz. Since his abdication remained unpublicized, the Senate and army swore allegiance to Constantine, but he abdicated the throne. A re-oath was assigned to Alexander's other brother, Nicholas. A peculiar situation has developed in the country - an interregnum. The leaders of Northern society decided to take advantage of this to carry out a coup. In a difficult political situation, they demonstrated true revolutionary spirit, a willingness to sacrifice everything to implement the plan for the state structure of Russia.

December 13, 1825 at the apartment of K.F. Ryleev, the last meeting of members of the Northern Society took place. They decided to withdraw the troops of the St. Petersburg garrison to Senate Square and force them not to swear allegiance to Nicholas, but to accept the “Manifesto to the Russian People” (see Appendix 4), drawn up at the meeting. “Manifesto” is the most important final program document of the Decembrists. It proclaimed the destruction of autocracy, serfdom, estates, conscription and military settlements, and the introduction of broad democratic freedoms.

In the early morning of December 14, 1825, members of the Northern Society began agitation among the troops. By 11 o'clock, brothers Alexander and Mikhail Bestuzhev and D.A. Shchepin-Rostovsky was led to Senate Square by the Life Guards Moscow Regiment. At one o'clock in the afternoon the rebels were joined by sailors of the Guards naval crew led by Nikolai Bestuzhev and the Life Guards Grenadier Regiment. In total, about 3 thousand soldiers and sailors with 30 officers lined up in battle formation on Senate Square. However, by this time it turned out that early in the morning the Senate had already sworn allegiance to Nicholas, after which the senators dispersed. There was no one to present the Manifesto to. Trubetskoy, having learned about this, did not join the rebels. The uprising was left without leadership for a while. These circumstances gave rise to hesitation in the ranks of the Decembrists and doomed them to the senseless tactics of waiting.

Meanwhile, Nikolai collected units loyal to him in the square. Governor General of St. Petersburg M.A. Miloradovich tried to persuade the rebels to disperse, but was mortally wounded by the Decembrist P.G. Kakhovsky. Rumors of the uprising spread throughout the city, and up to 30 thousand people gathered on Senate Square, ready to support the rebels. But the Decembrists did not take advantage of this. Two mounted attacks by government troops were repulsed by the rebels. Fearing that with the onset of darkness it would be more difficult to end the uprising, Nicholas gave the order to open artillery fire. Several volleys of grapeshot caused great devastation in the ranks of the rebels. The civilian population surrounding them also suffered. Soldiers and officers who tried to escape from the square were arrested. The uprising in St. Petersburg was crushed. Arrests of members of the society and their sympathizers began.

After 2 weeks, on December 29, 1825, S.I. Muravyov-Apostol led the uprising of the Chernigov regiment. By this time P.I. Pestel and a number of other leaders of the Southern Society were arrested. The defeat of the uprising in St. Petersburg was also known. But members of the Southern Society hoped to raise the troops stationed in the south to revolt, and thereby show the government that the northerners were not alone and that the whole country supported them. But their hopes were not justified. Although the peasants supported the rebels who passed through their villages, the government managed to isolate the Chernigov regiment and a week later, on January 3, 1826, it was shot with grapeshot.

At the end of December 1825 - beginning of February 1826, two more attempts were made to raise an uprising in the troops by members of the Society of Military Friends, associated with the Northern Society, and members of the Society of United Slavs. But these attempts also failed.

579 people were involved in the investigation and trial, of which 80% were military personnel.

The process took place in strict secrecy and in a short time. The work of the Investigative Commission was directed by the Emperor himself. Of all those under investigation, Pestel, Muravyov-Apostol, Bestuzhev-Ryumin, Kakhovsky and Ryleev were placed “outside the ranks” and sentenced to quartering. However, the fear of being branded a “savage” in “enlightened” Europe led Nicholas to replace this medieval execution with hanging. On July 13, 1826, five Decembrists were executed in the Peter and Paul Fortress. More than a hundred Decembrists were exiled to hard labor and eternal settlement in Siberia. Many officers were demoted to soldiers and sent to the Caucasus, where there was a war with the mountaineers. The entire Chernigov regiment was sent there.

Brother Sergei Ivanovich came to Kyiv to ask Prince Trubetskoy, who was leaving for St. Petersburg, to do his best to prevent any attempt at an uprising there, foreseeing only futile sacrifices.

At the end of December, Pavel Ivanovich Pestel informed his brother about the death of the emperor and about two denunciations made during his lifetime.

In December 1825, Mikhail Pavlovich Bestuzhev - Ryumin learned about the death of his mother, whom he dearly loved. Sympathizing with his grief, my brother wanted to try to get him a vacation. Bestuzhev, a former officer of the old Semenovsky regiment, like all his colleagues, was transferred to the army as a result of the Semenovsky story. It is known that, by order of the highest government, it was forbidden to present them for promotion to the next rank and that they were deprived of the right to ask for leave and resign. The second battalion of the Chernigov infantry regiment, which was commanded by Sergei Ivanovich and in which he put corporal punishment out of use, was considered

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exemplary throughout the 3rd Infantry Corps. General Roth, the corps commander, favored his brother so much that he nominated him to regimental commander twice.

On December 22, 1825, the brother went to the block apartment in order to obtain leave for Bestuzhev. At the last station, before reaching Zhitomir, we received (I accompanied my brother) from the Senate courier, who was delivering the jury papers, the first news of the case on December 14th.

Upon arrival in Zhitomir, the brother hastened to report to the corps commander, who confirmed what he had heard from the courier. There was no longer any need for Bestuzhev to worry about a vacation. Roth invited his brother to dine with him. During the table there was no other conversation except about the St. Petersburg event; commemorated the death of Count Mikhail Alexandrovich Miloradovich . When my brother returned to the apartment, the stroller was ready and we went back to Vasilkov, through Berdichev. On the way, we stopped by Pyotr Aleksandrovich Nabokov, a former Semenovsky officer who, before the Semenovsky story, was appointed regiment commander of the 8th Infantry Division. We did not find Nabokov at home; he was away on official business. In Troyanov we visited Alexander Zakharovich Muravyov, and then in Lyubar we visited his brother Artamon Zakharovich. The stroller needed some repairs, we abandoned it in Lyubar and hired a Jewish forshpanka. At night in Berdichev we changed horses and rode on.

Before reaching Vasilkov, we stopped in Trilesye, the location of the fifth musketeer company, which was in our brother’s battalion. She was returning from Vasilkov, where she went on the occasion of the second oath. In Trilesye we stopped at the apartment of A.D. Kuzmin, commander of the fifth company.

Bestuzhev rode to Trilesye with a notification that, during his brother’s absence, gendarmes came from St. Petersburg and that, not finding him in Vasilkov, they took all his papers and went to Zhitomir. We learned from Bestuzhev that the St. Petersburg gendarmes were waiting for my brother to detain him, and that that very night when we changed horses, Berdichev was cordoned off by troops, and there were sentries at all the exits.

On the night of December 28-29, commander of the Chernigov regiment Gebel. with the gendarmerie captain Lang, chasing their brother from Zhitomir itself,

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overtook him in Trilesye. - After several sleepless nights spent on the road, my brother undressed and went to bed. Gebel asked us to dress in order to listen to the highest command. It was to arrest us and transport us to St. Petersburg.

We invited Gebel to have tea, to which he readily agreed. While we were sitting over tea, the day came. Kuzmin with his second company returned from Vasilkov. All company commanders of the second battalion of the Chernigov regiment arrived with him to inquire about their battalion commander. - Gebel began placing sentries around the hut and placed two people opposite each window of the hut. Returning to the room and addressing the officers in a threatening tone, he asked them what they were doing here. Kuzmin answered him that he was at his apartment. - “How dare you talk to the prisoner?” - Such an inappropriate outburst from Gebel aroused an explosion of indignation among the officers. Kuzmin approached him and, shaking his finger, reminded him how many times Sergei Ivanovich had helped him out of trouble. Gebel could not stand the reproaches and left the room; officers, went after him. Soon loud exclamations and screams were heard. The frightened gendarme, a tall man, threw himself on his knees before his brother, asking him (in French) to spare his life. His brother reassured him, assuring him that his life was not in any danger. The gendarme left the hut and immediately left Trilesye.

Although I did not witness the massacre, I can affirmatively say that the wounds allegedly inflicted by a bayonet on Gebel’s chest and side are a complete lie. I can’t guarantee that he wasn’t hit with a rifle butt. With such wounds as mentioned in the reports, Gebel could not immediately return to Vasilkov.

Gebel, for his zeal and management, was appointed second Kyiv commandant. Despite the fact that it can be unmistakably said that if in Gebel’s place the regimental commander of the Chernigov regiment had been a person who deserved the respect of his subordinates and was more reasonable, there would have been neither indignation nor uprising.

The fifth company, having learned about the release of its battalion commander from arrest, greeted him with a loud cry: hurray. The brother ordered the soldiers to go to their apartments, collect their belongings and prepare for the campaign.

Unexpected events that followed one another so quickly: arrest and then immediate release, due to the indignation of the officers, put his brother in a hopeless situation.

Having participated in the campaigns of 1812, 1813 and 1814, Sergei Ivanovich was sufficiently knowledgeable in military affairs to not harbor any hope for the success of the uprising with a force consisting of a handful of people. But the circumstances were such that the uprising, unforeseen, unprepared, was already an accomplished fact, as a result of Gebel’s rude, reckless treatment of the officers, whose respect he did not know how to gain. The soldiers hated him, sympathized with their officers, had complete trust in them, and even more so in Sergei Ivanovich. They told him that they were ready to follow him wherever he led them. The officers who violated the law of military obedience awaited his decision. To leave them would mean to refuse to share with them the bitter fate that awaited them. Brother decided to go on a hike

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to connect with the 8th Infantry Division located outside Zhitomir. The 8th Infantry Division included many members of the Secret Alliance and the Society of United Slavs. Among the first were several regimental commanders, whose assistance could be relied upon: several companies of the old Semenovsky regiment were transferred to this division and completely trusted their brother. The officers of the 8th artillery brigade, when the news of the Emperor’s death reached them, let Sergei Ivanovich know that they had everything ready for the campaign and their horses were shod with winter spikes. In addition, the hope that the uprising in the south, by diverting the government’s attention from its comrades, the northerners, would ease the severity of the punishment that threatened them, seemed to justify in his eyes the desperation of his enterprise; finally, the consideration that, as a result of the denunciations of Mayboroda and Sherwood, there will be no mercy for us, that the dungeons are the same silent graves; all this, taken together, sowed in brother Sergei Ivanovich the conviction that the enterprise, apparently reckless, could not be abandoned and that the time had come for an atoning sacrifice. The company set out from Trilesye. Our overnight stay was in the village of Spidinki. On December 30, at about three o'clock in the afternoon, the companies reached Vasilkov. A chain of shooters was posted against us. When the company came to such a distance that the faces of the soldiers could be seen, the riflemen shouted: hurray! united with their fifth company and together with it entered Vasilkov. Upon entering the city, the brother took the following measures: released from arrest M. A. Shchepila, Baron Veniamin Nikolaevich Solovyov, Ivan Ivanovich Sukhanov who returned the day before from Trilesye; The guards at the prison and the treasury were strengthened; a protective guard was dressed up for the house occupied by Gebel; An order was given at all outposts not to let anyone into the city or let anyone out of it without the knowledge and permission of his brother. The night passed peacefully. Several officers who were going on vacation or returning to their regiments came to Sergei Ivanovich and went on without delay. A passing gendarme was detained at night. On December 31, the second battalion of the Chernigov regiment, in its entirety, united in Vasilkov early in the morning; two companies of the first battalion also joined us. After prolonged hesitation, the regimental priest of the Chernigov regiment agreed to serve a prayer service and read the catechism compiled by his brother before the front. It outlined the duties of a warrior in relation to God and the Fatherland .

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The companies, having prayed, prepared to set out from Vasilkov; then a postal troika arrives, and brother Ippolit rushes into our arms. Ippolit had just passed a brilliant exam and was promoted to officer general. headquarters and assigned to the second army. In vain we begged him to go further to Tulchin, his destination: he stayed with us.

On January 2, 1826, brother Sergei Ivanovich intended to head to Berdichev to take advantage of the wooded area. Having learned that the 18th Jaeger Regiment, located in Bila Tserkva, was deployed against us, he turned to Zhitomir, taking the shortest road, through Trilesye.

On January 3, 1826, at a halt, we learned that a cavalry detachment with a horse artillery company was blocking the way to Trilesye. General joy: the horse artillery company was commanded by Colonel Pykhachev, a member of the Secret Union. In 1860, while living in Tver, I only then learned that Pykhachev, on the eve of the day when his company moved against us, was arrested. We broke up, formed into company columns and moved on. The terrain turned out to be the most unfavorable for the infantry, who were about to meet with the cavalry. A detachment, guns in sight. We move forward. A cannon shot is heard, followed by a second, the cannonball flew over our heads. We all moved forward. Firing opened with grapeshot, we had several people fell, some killed, others wounded, among the first was the head of the sixth musketeer company, staff captain Mikhail Alekseevich Shchepila. Then Sergei Ivanovich decided to stop the unequal battle and save his team from inevitable death, and ordered the soldiers to put their guns in the trestles, obeying him. They did not understand with what intention the commander stopped them on the march. Sergei Ivanovich told them that he was guilty of them, that, having aroused their hope for success, he deceived them. Sergei Ivanovich began to wave a white handkerchief to the artillerymen and immediately fell, struck by buckshot. Ippolit, believing that his brother had been killed, shot himself with a pistol.

We were seated in a sleigh; we had to drive past our soldiers, who were looking at their brother with condolences. None of them showed the slightest sign of reproach on their faces. After our departure, the cavalry surrounded the Chernigov soldiers .

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In Trilesye we were placed in a tavern, with a guard of Belarusian hussars assigned to us. My brother’s wound was not bandaged and there was nothing to bandage it with. Our things, linen, etc., were stolen by the hussars.

Night came and the fire was turned on. Kuzmin, lying on the straw opposite me, asked me to come to him. I pointed out to him my brother’s wounded head lying on my shoulder. Kuzmin, with visible tension, crawled up to me, gave a handshake, by which the United Slavs recognized their own, said goodbye to me in a friendly manner, crawled to his straw, and immediately, lying down, shot himself with a pistol hidden in his coat sleeve. Kuzmin hid from us two grapeshot wounds he received, one in his side, the other in his left arm. I want to say a few words about him.

Anastasy Dmitrievich Kuzmin was brought up in the first cadet corps. In 1823, I happened to visit my brother Sergei Ivanovich in Vasilkov. I found him busy in the morning with his service, on the occasion of the recruits who had entered his battalion, whom he himself personally trained. My brother asked me to ride on his riding horse in order to ride it. On Vasilkovskaya Square, along which the road from Kiev to Berdichev runs and where Polish chaises are constantly scurrying about, I found the training team of the Chernigov infantry regiment. The instructors, non-commissioned officers, were holding in my hands, the ends of which were worn out from the beatings. I was still in the service then, and I ordered the officer in charge of the training team to come to me. Reminding him of the article in the recruiting regulations, according to which it is prohibited to beat a recruit during training, I added. :

“Be ashamed, Mr. Officer, to give the Polish gentlemen an amusing spectacle: to show them how they know how to treat their conquerors.” Then I ordered them to drop the sticks and left. - Returning to my brother, I told him my meeting with Kuzmin, from whom I expected a challenge. My brother invited me to be my second; there was no demand for satisfaction. After living with my brother for another three weeks, I went to my father’s estate, and then to St. Petersburg. - In 1824, I again came to visit my brother and found Kuzmin with him, who rushed into my arms, thanking me for bringing him to reason, exposing before him all the vileness of corporal punishment. My brother told me that Kuzmin cannot be recognized that he joined the soldiers' artel of his company and that he lives with her as in his own family.

From the shot fired by Kuzmin, his brother fainted again, which he had already suffered several times before, due to loss of blood from an unbandaged wound.

On the morning of January 4, 1826, the wound was bandaged and a sleigh was brought in; A convoy of Mariupol hussars was prepared to take us to Bila Tserkva. At first, the commander of the convoy did not agree for a long time to our request to allow us to say goodbye to our brother Ippolit, then he led us to an uninhabited, rather spacious hut. On the floor lay the naked bodies of the dead, including

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our brother Ippolit. His face was not disfigured by a pistol shot; a small swelling was visible on the left cheek under the eye, the expression on his face was proudly calm. I helped the wounded brother Sergei to his knees; we looked at our Hippolytus, prayed to God and gave the last kiss to our murdered brother.

I was put in a sleigh along with my wounded brother. On the way, we consoled ourselves with the thought that in Siberia, no matter where we were thrown, we would be inseparably together. The young Mariupol hussar officer, who was seated at the front of our sleigh, without being called to a conversation on our part, began talking about his and his colleagues’ sympathy for us.

In Belaya Tserkov we were placed in different huts and thus deprived me of my last, how to say, consolation - to care for my wounded brother Sergei Ivanovich. With this I end my story about the uprising in 1825 of the Chernigov infantry regiment.

This is what explains the bribery of the executioner, which is mentioned on page 232 of the Russian Archives of 1871, under the title: “Riot of the Chernigov Regiment.”

The flanker (according to the then wingman) of the first battalion of the Chernigov regiment, a soldier of proven courage, good behavior, who had been in campaigns and in many battles, began in 1823 to make frequent escapes. When his company commander, after the terrible torture he had endured for escaping again, began to admonish him, remembering his previous service, not to expose himself to torture, he replied that until he was deprived of his soldier’s rank, punished with a whip and sent to Siberia, he will not stop running away; that hard labor is easier than service. - At that time, after a certain number of escapes, the offenders were sentenced to trade execution and exile to Siberia for hard labor. The flanker of the first battalion of the Chernigov regiment achieved his goal and was sentenced to whipping and hard labor. The brother took pity on the old soldier and instructed his man to give money to the executioner so that he would spare the man sentenced to death . - In those days it happened, and more than once, that soldiers committed murders over the first person they came across; They even killed children, and all with the sole purpose of getting rid of service.

In 1825, in the south of the country the situation reached armed unrest, namely, the uprising of the Chernigov regiment. Companies of the Chernigov regiment (there were six of them in total) after the liberation of Muravyov-Apostol entered the Bila Tserkva. However, they were overtaken by horse artillery. Muravyov's order to go forward without firing a shot (in the hope of the government switching to his side) was not crowned with success. The Chernigov regiment did not expect everything to happen exactly like this. Government troops took advantage of their confusion.

Who headed: Sergey Muravyov-Apostol.

As you know, on the eve of this event, the Decembrist uprising was organized on Senate Square in St. Petersburg.

Chronology of events

The organizer of the events in late December and early January was the Southern Society. After the events that occurred on December 14, the regiment commander ordered the arrest of Muravyov-Apostol, who was directly in connection with the speakers. But on December 29, officers Plekhanov, Solovyov, Sukhinov and Shchepillo released the prisoner. This happened in a village called Trilesy. However, they simply did not succeed in doing their job; they attacked and even tried to destroy Gebel, the colonel, and regiment commander.

Gebel, who did not intend to release the Muravyovs and explain the reasons for the arrest, was bayoneted and severely wounded in the stomach. But the colonel was still saved from the Decembrists.

Already on December thirtieth, the rebels found themselves in Vasilkov. There they took possession of weapons stocks and all the funds of the regiment. The amount was considerable - approximately ten thousand rubles in papers and seventeen thousand in silver coins.

The next day, Motovilovka was occupied by the Decembrists. There they read the Orthodox Catechism compiled by Muravyov-Apostol and Bestuzhev-Ryumin. In the village, the Decembrists often robbed local residents. In addition, the rank and file began to drink more and more often. On January 1, the rebels left Motovilovka.

After leaving Vasilkov, the companies planned to go to Zhitomir. There they wanted to reunite with members of the Society of United Slavs. However, realizing that the enemy (the government army) had a huge superiority over them, the Decembrists decided to turn to Bila Tserkva (a city eighty kilometers from Kyiv). In addition, more and more deserters appeared among the rank and file.

Finally, on January 3, 1826, near Ustimovka, the Decembrists were defeated by the government army. Muravyov-Apostol himself ordered his men to go forward, literally “to death,” without shooting. Enemy cannons destroy the rebels before our eyes, significantly reducing the size of the army. The head of the uprising was also wounded.

Punishments and retribution

Muravyov-Apostol was arrested, along with 895 soldiers and six officers. About a hundred soldiers were corporally punished, and eight hundred were exiled to the Caucasus. Sergei Muravyov-Apostol was executed on July 13, 1826. During the hanging, his body fell off the noose, so he had to be hanged again. By the way, it is a mistake to believe that the death penalty cannot be carried out a second time.

Reasons for the defeat of the Decembrists

• Lack of clear goals and objectives. This is confirmed by their irrational route. Having failed to achieve one goal, the army of Muravyov-Apostol moved on to others.
• In addition, many participants in the uprising did not realize what was required of them, and they ended up joining the ranks of the rebels by accident. They were lured with money, by force, by deception, with promises of a better life.
• Drunkenness and robbery reigned in the ranks of the Decembrists. They stole vodka, money and even the clothes of ordinary residents.
• Also, the rank and file had no respect for the leaders of the uprising. This is especially clearly seen in the latest events, the third of January.

After all the events, the Chernigov regiment was reorganized. Thus, the Decembrists never managed to achieve the abolition of serfdom and the autocratic system.

Uprising of the Chernigov regiment.