General John Basil Turchin. Ivan Turchaninov

19th Illinois Infantry
8th Brigade of Mitchell's Division

Ivan Vasilievich Turchaninov(January 30 – June 19), better known by its Americanized name John Basil Turchin(English) John Basil Turchin), Russian military leader, colonel of the Russian army, brigadier general of the US federal forces during the American Civil War. The only Russian to become a general in the American army.

Early years

Service in the Russian Imperial Army

Ivan Vasilyevich Turchaninov was a representative of a noble family descended from the Don Cossacks. His uncle, P. P. Turchaninov, took an active part in the Napoleonic wars, rose to the rank of lieutenant general, and was one of the comrades-in-arms of M. I. Kutuzov. Thus, the Turchaninov family was part of the elite of the Russian Empire.

Ivan Turchaninov was born on the Don, in 1832-1835 he studied at the First Cadet Corps in St. Petersburg, then at the military classical gymnasium in Novocherkassk. In 1843, Turchaninov graduated from the Mikhailovsky Artillery School. Having demonstrated extraordinary abilities for military service, he was accepted into service in the guard. With the rank of lieutenant, he served in the Life Guards of the Don Horse Artillery Battery and participated in the suppression of the uprising in Hungary. In 1852 he graduated from the Academy of the General Staff in St. Petersburg with a small silver medal. He was personally acquainted with Tsarevich Alexander Nikolaevich, the future Emperor Alexander II. Ivan Turchaninov took part in the Crimean War, conducted a topographic survey of the Baltic Sea coast, for which he received the rank of guard colonel and was awarded an order.

At the same time, Turchaninov, seeing the imperfection of the social structure of Russia, came to the conclusion about the need for reforms, becoming a staunch opponent of serfdom. Since 1853, Turchin was in secret correspondence with A.I. Herzen, in letters to whom he outlined his views on the fate of Russia.

Emigration to the USA

At the Battle of Chickamauga (September 20, 1863), the northern army suffered a heavy defeat and began to retreat in disarray. Then General Turchin personally led his brigade on a counterattack. His soldiers managed to break through the southern line, but they themselves found themselves behind the advancing enemy lines. Without being confused, Turchin ordered to turn around and break through to his own. Turchin's soldiers again broke through the lines of the southerners and reached the northerners. During this battle, Turchin's brigade captured about 300 southerners and captured several guns. In American historiography of the American Civil War, this feat was called the “Turchin attack behind enemy lines.”

After the Battle of Chickamauga, General Turchin, by order of the War Department, wrote a map of this battle, which is still one of the valuable sources on the history of this battle.

During the Battle of Chattanooga (November 24-25, 1863), Turchin's brigade was part of Baird's division of the Union Army's Fourteenth Corps. During the battle, the Northern troops drove the Southerners from their positions at Missionary Ridge, but found themselves under heavy fire from the top of the mountain range, where the Southerners also had a defensive line. Then the northerners spontaneously attacked the enemy. One of the rank-and-file commanders who led his soldiers into battle was John Turchin. Under heavy enemy fire, the northerners managed to get close to the Confederate positions. The Southern artillerymen, in desperation, lit the fuses of the bombs and dropped them on the enemy, but this did not help them. The Southerners were again driven out and cleared Missionary Ridge. Turchin's brigade was one of the first (according to some sources, the first) to break into the top of the ridge and, in particular, captured 3 cannons. The brigade's losses speak volumes about the courage of the soldiers and the intensity of the battle: 6 officers and 51 soldiers were killed and 11 officers and 211 soldiers were wounded, 4 soldiers were missing, the total losses were 282 people.

As a result of the victory at Chattanooga, the situation in the Western Theater of Operations changed dramatically: the strategic initiative finally passed to the northerners.

1864 Campaign

Thanks to the victory at Chattanooga, in the spring of 1864, General Sherman's army began the famous “raid to the sea,” during which it fought the strategically important battle for Atlanta, the largest military-industrial center of the South. General Turchin, together with his soldiers, took an active part in this campaign.

In the brigade's combat log there is an entry that on February 25, 1864, his brigade came under heavy artillery fire from a Southern battery located on a hill. On Turchin's orders, the brigade stormed the hill and drove the southerners out of their positions, losing 10 people killed and 77 wounded.

Turchin reached the small town of Chattahooche. Unfortunately, in June 1864, Turchin suffered a heart attack and was forced to leave the service. On October 4, Turchin resigned. Thus ended the military career of one of the most talented northern commanders.

Post-war career and legacy

After a heart attack in October 1864, Turchin left military service, returned to Chicago and worked there as a patent attorney and civil engineer. He later became involved in the real estate trade and emigrant settlement in southern Illinois. Apparently feeling sympathy for the Poles, in 1873 Turchin founded the Polish colony of Radom in Illinois, which soon became a prosperous settlement. At this time, he wrote a number of works on the history of the Civil War: “The Battle of Missionary Ridge”, “Experiences and Impressions of the Civil War” and others. In these works, he systematized and generalized the experience gained during the war. Turchin's military works have not lost their scientific significance to this day.

One of the consequences of the heart attack was a gradual deterioration in mental functioning. All this time, Turchin’s wife Nadine was his reliable support and support. Turchin wrote to Emperor Alexander asking for permission to return to Russia, but was refused. The Turchins fell into poverty, but Turchin's soldiers did not forget about their commander. His former subordinates, Senator Joseph B. Faraken and General S. H. Grovoner, obtained a small pension from the US Congress for Turchin - $50. Turchin died in poverty in 1901 in a hospital in Ann (Illinois) at the age of 79. He was buried with military honors at the Mount City Military Cemetery, Illinois. Nadine survived her husband and died in 1904. She was buried next to her husband.

Since the Turchins, as members of the US Army, are buried in a military cemetery, their graves are maintained at the expense of the state.

Personality assessment

Turchin's unusual biography has attracted a lot of attention from historians. The biography of the “Russian American general” has been well studied both in Russia and in the USA. Historians rightly call him an excellent commander, a talented strategist and tactician, a good administrator who skillfully led the troops under his command. Particularly noted is the great courage of the general, who repeatedly personally led his soldiers into attack. The high moral qualities of Turchaninov are pointed out, who abandoned the brilliant career that awaited him in Russia in order to take part in the creation of the United States.

In both countries, dozens of scientific works, including several monographs, are devoted to Turchin. Turchaninov is mentioned in Soviet textbooks on the New History of the United States. In the USA they also remember the glorious name of General Turchin, which constantly appears in various publications.

At the same time, in the West (especially in the southern United States) there is a certain and completely unfounded tendency: for the incident in Athens, Turchin is portrayed as a “wild Cossack” and a villain, although his innocence has become clear. Local residents suffered from the actions of Turchin’s soldiers, several rich houses were looted, but this event cannot be compared with the actual cruelty shown by many other generals of the warring parties. For example, General Sherman's troops, during the famous “raid to the sea,” mercilessly plundered the local population and, using scorched earth tactics, burned many houses. The soldiers of the southern hero, General Nathan Forrest, killed the captured black soldiers after taking Fort Pillow. The hostility of southerners towards Turchin is explained by his pronounced anti-slavery position - Turchin was an active fighter for the abolition of slavery in the USA.

• Since 1853, Turchin was in correspondence (secret until emigration) with A. I. Herzen, and in 1856, while in London, he personally met with him. The warmest friendly relations were maintained between Turchin and Herzen.
• During the Civil War, Turchin's wife Nadine was a doctor in her husband's brigade. Despite the protests of opponents of women's emancipation, Nadine performed her duties so well and selflessly that all complaints against her ceased and she skillfully treated the sick and wounded throughout her entire service.
• Once, when he was ill, Turchin put his wife in command of the regiment, who handled the leadership quite successfully.
• The chairman of the military court that considered the Turchin case was

An unusual biography of the “Russian American general” I.V. Turchaninova has always attracted the attention of historians. It has been well studied both in Russia and in the USA. Historians rightly call Turchaninov an excellent commander, a talented strategist and tactician, a good administrator who skillfully led the troops under his command. Particularly noted is the great courage of the general, who repeatedly personally led his soldiers into attacks. The high moral qualities of Turchaninov are pointed out, who abandoned the brilliant career that awaited him in Russia in order to take part in a war that was alien to him on the side of the northern abolitionists.

However, in Western historiography (especially in the south of the USA) a far from flattering opinion has developed about Turchaninov. For the Athens incident, in which civilians were injured and several wealthy homes were looted, American historians to this day tend to portray John Turchin as a "wild Cossack" and a villain, forgetting that their countrymen (for example, General Sherman's troops) fought yourself in this war is no better. During their famous “raid to the sea,” the northerners mercilessly plundered the local population and, using scorched earth tactics, burned many houses. The soldiers of the Southern hero, General Nathan Forrest, killed all the black soldiers they captured after taking Fort Pillow. Nevertheless, Sherman today is a national hero of the USA, and no one considers N. Forrest a “savage”. A civil war is a civil war. There is no right or wrong in it, and the prerogative to write its history always remains with the winner. Therefore, after the end of the war, foreign general John Basil Turchin - a man of rather radical political views - found himself out of place in the new United States of America. Many of Turchaninov's former subordinates, comrades in the civil struggle, soon after the war became important government officials, senators and congressmen. And their commander was awarded only a pension of 50 dollars from the US Congress, poverty and almost complete oblivion during his lifetime by his new and old compatriots. Having become a hero of the American war, Turchaninov essentially remained a Russian man with his eternal desire for truth, selfless devotion to duty and a purely Russian inability to fit into the paradigm of “American success.”

At home, the unpatriotic act of an officer who rushed to free other people’s slaves because he was not satisfied with “slavery” in his country was also not understood either by the authorities or by the majority of his contemporaries. Only domestic revolutionary democrats close to Chernyshevsky sincerely admired him. The rest, including the Tsar-Liberator Alexander II, were plunged into deep bewilderment by the fate of the voluntary emigrant: for what, exactly?.. With his energy and talents, Turchaninov would have been a general in Russia. If he retired, he would not have to forever work as a street musician. In the Russian Empire, as in Europe at that time, one could live well on a general’s pension. But Ivan Vasilyevich Turchaninov himself chose his fate. He died poor and forgotten by everyone, never becoming “one of us” on earth, to which he sacrificed his extraordinary talent as a commander and warrior, personal courage and selfless desire to make this world a better place. The struggle for the freedom of the human person for the American General John Turchin, as well as for the Russian Colonel Ivan Turchaninov, always stood above the desire for material well-being, above honors, glory and personal merit.

Perhaps that is why he was highly appreciated by his descendants in Russia and the USA. In both countries, dozens of scientific works, including several monographs, are dedicated to John Turchin (I.V. Turchaninov). The name of Turchaninov as a fighter for the liberation of black Americans is repeatedly mentioned even in Soviet textbooks on New History. In the USA, to this day, it is constantly found in various publications dedicated to the Civil War, and the Battle of Chickamauga and the events of the Atlanta Campaign of 1864, described by Turchaninov in his historical works, are reflected in American fiction (in particular, in the famous novel by Margaret Mitchell "Gone with the Wind")

The beginning of the journey

Ivan Vasilyevich Turchaninov was born in the village of Konstantinovskaya Region of the Don Army. Descended from the Don nobles. His ancestors took an active part in all the wars of the Russian Empire. Uncle, P. P. Turchaninov rose to the rank of lieutenant general during the War of 1812, and was one of M. I. Kutuzov’s comrades-in-arms. The Turchaninov family was part of the military elite of the empire, and almost all of its representatives honestly served their homeland.

From 1832 to 1835, Ivan Turchaninov studied at the First Cadet Corps of St. Petersburg, then at the military classical gymnasium in Novocherkassk. In 1843 he graduated from the Mikhailovsky Artillery School. Having demonstrated extraordinary abilities for military service, he was accepted into the guard. With the rank of lieutenant, he served in the Life Guards of the Don Horse Artillery Battery and participated in the suppression of the uprising in Hungary. For this campaign, Ivan Vasilyevich was awarded the St. George Cross and sent to study at the Academy of the General Staff, from which he graduated in 1852 with a silver medal with the rank of second major. Until the beginning of the Crimean War, Turchaninov served on the General Staff. It is known that he was personally acquainted with Tsarevich Alexander Nikolaevich (the future Emperor Alexander II), and Nicholas I himself favored him.

Crimean War 1853-1856

With the beginning of the Crimean War, Major Turchaninov was urgently sent with fifty Cossacks to the northwest to cover the northern borders. Here Ivan Vasilyevich conducts a fortification survey of the coast from Kronstadt to Narva, especially paying attention to the sections of the coast most suitable for enemy landings. As a result of this inspection, several coastal fortifications are being built, and Turchaninov, meanwhile, receives the rank of colonel ahead of schedule. By order of Emperor Nicholas I, he was appointed head of the planning of the St. Petersburg fortress region and chief of staff of the Guards Corps.

But Turchaninov voluntarily leaves St. Petersburg in order to take part in the defense of besieged Sevastopol. He was appointed commander of the 3rd field battery on the 4th bastion, where the then unknown second lieutenant Count Leo Tolstoy served.

Turchaninov's battery consisted of 10 naval guns of various calibers, taken from ships sunk in the harbor. The personnel are mixed: sailors, army gunners, local militias. Here, among his comrades in arms, artilleryman Ivan Turchaninov does not hide his liberal political views. Seeing the scientific and technical backwardness of the Russian army and the complete indifference of the top generals to these problems, the officer came to the conclusion that not only radical military reforms were necessary, but also a complete social reorganization in Russia. Being a staunch opponent of serfdom, Turchaninov had been in secret correspondence with A.I. Herzen since 1853, in letters to whom he outlined his views on the fate of the country. But if in the trenches no one paid attention to the colonel’s liberal chatter, then in other army authorities such “heresy” did not go unnoticed. In the personal file of the talkative Turchaninov, there appears an entry made in neat handwriting: “He is keen on the ideas of utopian socialism, in their Herzenian presentation.” The oppressive hopelessness of Russian reality, along with tempting liberal ideas coming from the West, in those days made many romantic idealists want to give up everything and go in search of the promised country, where the spirit of freedom and progress would reign. Obviously, I.V. Turchaninov was no exception.

Some foreign publications dedicated to John Turchin claim that after the Sevastopol events, Colonel Turchaninov resigned, which is unlikely. The Crimean War was still ongoing, and for the resignation of a serviceman during the period of hostilities, very compelling reasons were required, which Turchaninov did not have.

It is known that after the surrender of Sevastopol, the colonel lived for some time in the house of his friend and fellow soldier Yevgeny Lvov. Lvov’s sister Nadezhda Antonovna soon became Ivan Vasilyevich’s wife. Most likely, they were brought together not only by great and bright love, but also by common political views. Therefore, having invited his wife to try her luck overseas, he already knew her answer.

In search of happiness

In the spring of 1856, Turchaninov and his wife unexpectedly emigrated to the United States. The young couple could not have had any material reasons for such a step: in 1856, Turchaninov held the post of chief of staff of the corps in Poland, enjoyed the favor of the emperor, and brilliant career prospects opened up before him.

Perhaps the spouses at that moment were driven by adventurism in the best sense of the word: the desire to take part in the construction of a young country, to see the world, to try themselves in a different capacity than what fate had destined for them from birth. At the same time, Colonel Turchaninov did not in any way declare his intentions to leave the service or serve another state. Officially, he went on vacation to Europe for treatment, but did not return back on time. In 1857, with the rank of colonel, Turchaninov was expelled from service in the Russian army. If he was found, according to the regulations, the deserter should be brought before a military court.

Upon arrival in the United States, the Turchaninov couple first tried to engage in farming, but quickly went broke. During this period, having become more familiar with the realities of American life, Turchin realized that there were no fewer problems in the United States than in Russia. He went to America for freedom, but here he found the same slavery, lack of rights, and universal unspiritual worship of the “golden calf.” In a letter to Herzen in 1859, he wrote the following:

It was then that Ivan Vasilyevich Turchaninov changed his name to the American style and began to be called John Basil Turchin, and his wife Nadezhda turned into Nadine. In order to somehow get out of poverty, Turchin continued his education according to the American system, choosing an engineering college in Philadelphia. Nadine completed medical courses.

The freest country for the rich seems to have thoroughly screwed up the Russian colonel. He humbly makes acquaintances with those same “stupid and arrogant Yankees” whom he repeatedly ridiculed in letters to Herzen. He even joins the Republican Party. The result was immediate: Turchin received a position as a topographical engineer in the management of the Illinois Railway, and he got money. Not much money, but enough to move from provincial Mattoon to Chicago. A new position means new acquaintances, including the legal adviser of the Illinois Railroad, lawyer Abraham Lincoln. Turchin actively participated in the 1860 presidential campaign that brought Lincoln to power. And yet, Turchin cannot count on a quick change in fate: around Lincoln, even without him, there is a crowd of people who want to taste the fruits of victory.

Turchin begins to think about leaving the United States. But where to go? A military trial awaits him in Russia, and it is not safe for him to live in Europe as a deserter. The Turchins decide to wait for American citizenship: with American passports in Europe they will be safer. And then, finally, luck smiled on the former colonel: the Civil War between North and South began in the United States.

Civil War 1861-1864

Non-military America (no matter how unusual this phrase sounds in the 21st century, but this is exactly the case) turned out to be absolutely unprepared for major armed conflicts. In fact, neither the Union nor the Confederacy had a regular army. Therefore, both North and South had to create their armies literally from scratch. The formation of both armies and their composition were largely the same, and the main thing that united them was that both sides relied on volunteer regiments.

By the time the war began, John Turchin was known as an ardent opponent of slavery and was often seen speaking at Republican Party rallies. Naturally, the former colonel immediately came to enroll in the army of the northerners, but he was refused: Turchin was already 39 years old, he obviously looked older, and besides, he was a foreigner. However, having learned that a professional military man, a Russian colonel, wanted to join the ranks of volunteers, he was immediately offered to accept the 19th Illinois Regiment. The rank of colonel in the Russian army was officially recognized by Turchin in the Union army. Being a talented commander, he managed to turn his regiment into one of the most combat-ready units of the northerners. The 19th Illinois was soon absorbed into the Army of Ohio under the command of Major General Don Carlos Buell. The latter was impressed by Turchin's successes, and soon he was assigned to lead the 8th brigade of Mitchell's division, consisting of four regiments. Turchin soon imposed iron discipline in the brigade, and it turned into one of the best in the army of the North. Turchin’s wife, Nadine, was a doctor in her husband’s brigade (the soldiers addressed her as “Madame Turchin”) and earned love and respect as an excellent doctor and sympathetic person.

In 1861, Turchin's brigade did not directly participate in hostilities, but was engaged in combat training. From the beginning of 1862, relations between Turchin and Army Commander Buell began to deteriorate. The reason was the passivity of Buell, who did not conduct active combat operations. Many suspected the general of sympathizing with the southerners, since he was one of the few northern generals who owned slaves. Buell, indeed, in every possible way limited the actions of the northerners against the southerners, which led to a number of sensitive defeats.

Athens incident

At the end of April 1862, Turchin, along with another colonel, Mitchell, voluntarily moved forward with his people and captured a number of southern positions. Turchin's brigade was the first to enter the cities of Nashville and Huntsville. On May 2, 1862, the city of Athens (Alabama) was captured. At the same time, the soldiers staged robbery in the city, and civilians also suffered. Turchin declared all black slaves in the territory he captured to be free and allowed blacks to enroll in the army. This happened even before the release of Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation. Like any romantic, Colonel Turchin sincerely believed that the war of the northerners against the South had as its main goal liberation from slavery, and not the seizure of new economic territories. The Americans did not forgive him for the attacks on their main shrine - private property. Turchin was court-martialed, which attracted the attention of the entire country. He was accused of not preventing the violence that violated respect for the individual and private property. Turchin was also accused of failure to follow orders and behavior unworthy of an officer and a gentleman: during the battle, he transferred command of the brigade to his wife. At the trial, Turchin denied all charges, with the exception of the last one - his wife’s being in the active army. Being sick with malaria, Ivan Vasilyevich, indeed, gave orders to the troops through his wife for several hours, which, it turns out, offended the “gentleman’s honor” of some of his comrades. Obviously, in this whole matter, Turchin’s ardor, explosive temperament, and lack of restraint in words and judgments played a significant role. And although the pre-trial investigative commission established the colonel’s innocence, the court, whose members included supporters of the southerners, found the “frantic Cossack” Turchin guilty and dismissed him from the army. However, his soldiers and the public of the North immediately came out in support of Turchin: in Chicago he was greeted as a hero. Under pressure from public opinion, President Abraham Lincoln, even before the end of the trial - June 17, 1862 - awarded Turchin the rank of brigadier general. All charges against him were dropped, and the main prosecutor, Buell, was soon removed from office.

In the fall of 1862, Turchin's brigade went to the Eastern Front - to Virginia. However, the train on which the brigade was traveling, for unknown reasons, fell from the bridge. There were many dead and wounded. Turchin and his wife did everything possible to save the soldiers. As a result of this accident, the brigade returned back and did not have the opportunity to prove itself in the Virginia theater of operations.

During the war, Turchin, being a professional military man, in addition to commanding a brigade, was actively involved in research into the theory of military science. He developed and published a series of pamphlets on tactics, signal exchange for coordination, ambush preparation, and recruit training. Turchin’s essay “Training a Brigade” was recognized by military circles in the North as the best textbook on field war tactics. Turchin's works were actively used by the northerners to organize the army, and after the Civil War they influenced the new military regulations. In military operations, Turchaninov used a new and unusual for that time tactic of rapid strikes along railways, capturing key railway stations and bridges. He built the first armored train in history with guns mounted on the front carriage. With the help of this armored train, it became possible to unexpectedly capture the main enemy fortifications. When attempting to attack Turchin’s armored train, almost a third of the cavalry brigade of the most dashing horseman in the South, Bedford Forrest (the future founder of the Ku Klux Klan), died.

America's Hero

During the 1863 campaign, General Turchin became especially famous in the battles of Chickamauga and Chattanooga.

At the Battle of Chickamauga (September 19-20, 1863), when the northern army suffered a heavy defeat and began to retreat, Turchin personally led his brigade in a counterattack. His soldiers managed to break through the southern line, but they themselves found themselves behind the advancing enemy lines. Without being confused, Turchin ordered to turn around and break through to his own. During this battle, Turchin's brigade captured about 300 southerners and captured several guns. In American historiography of the American Civil War, this feat was called the “Turchin attack behind enemy lines.”

During the Battle of Chattanooga (November 24-25, 1863), Turchin's brigade was part of Baird's division of the Union Army's Fourteenth Corps. During the battle, the northern troops drove the southerners out of their positions at Missionary Ridge, but found themselves under heavy fire from the top of the mountain range. Under heavy enemy fire, the northerners managed to get close to the Confederate positions. Turchin's brigade was one of the first (according to some sources, the first) to burst onto the top of the ridge and captured 3 cannons.

As a result of the victory at Chattanooga, the situation in the Western Theater of Operations changed dramatically: the strategic initiative finally passed to the northerners.

In the spring of 1864, General Sherman's army began the famous “raid to the sea,” during which it fought a strategically important battle for Atlanta, the largest military-industrial center of the South. General Turchin, together with his soldiers, took an active part in this campaign. On February 25, 1864, his brigade came under heavy artillery fire from a Confederate battery located on a hill. On Turchin's orders, the brigade stormed the hill and drove the southerners out of their positions, losing only 10 people killed and 77 wounded. After this battle, Turchin began to be called Russian Thunderstorm - “Russian thunderstorm”.

Unfortunately, in June 1864, the brave general was struck down by sunstroke, followed by a serious heart attack. Health problems began, and Turchin was forced to leave the service. Thus ended the military career of one of the most talented northern commanders.

After the war

After leaving the army, yesterday's hero became an intermediary for the acquisition of patents for new inventions, and in 1870 he returned to the railroad as an engineer. His legal situation in the United States was a real case. Turchaninov did not have American citizenship, and therefore did not have the right to serve in the civil service of the United States. He also did not have the right to a pension or benefits; he could only work for hire or start his own business. The request he sent to the Russian consulate about the possibility of returning to his homeland was promptly returned with a categorical refusal. When the Chancellor of the Russian Empire A. M. Gorchakov presented to Emperor Alexander II a report on Turchaninov’s service in the US Army, where, in particular, he indicated that “a person who had the good fortune to serve the Russian Emperor cannot serve another country,” the emperor left a resolution on the report : "Of course not". For exceeding the period of continuous stay abroad, for violating the military oath, expressed in entering foreign military service without permission, Guard Colonel Ivan Vasilyevich Turchaninov “by decree of the Governing Senate, was expelled from the rank and rights of a subject of the Russian Empire and henceforth has no permission to return to the fatherland.” The wording was almost the same as in relation to Herzen - he was “expelled” for accepting Swiss citizenship, and Turchaninov for desertion.

Neither the former commander-in-chief of the northern troops, General Ulysses Grant, who became US President in 1869, nor Secretary of War William Sherman could do anything to help one of his best subordinates, who became stateless. In addition, Turchin advocated not just for the freedom of blacks, but also their equal rights with the white population of America. Such radicalism ran counter to the guidelines of the new US government, and the anti-Turchin lobby erected impenetrable walls in the corridors of power.

Turchaninov's radical political views became fully evident after the unsuccessful Polish uprising of 1863.

The Poles, who emigrated to the United States to escape the persecution of the Russian government, found in Turchaninov a constant patron and assistant. He secured for them an empty expanse of land 300 miles south of Chicago, where 500 Polish families founded a town called Radom. A railway station with the same name was built not far from it. A settlement with a Polish population also arose here. Turchaninov and his wife, using their personal funds, helped the new settlers organize medical care, build a church and a school. Apparently, during this period Turchin developed his own idea of ​​a world order, which was rejected by the American establishment. He remembered his euphoria during the first year of emigration and how useful the advice of experienced people would have been when settling in a new place. It seemed to him that he would be able to direct the thoughts of the new settlers in the right direction, setting up something like a labor commune in the town. But this did not happen: the Poles treated their benefactor as an old eccentric. Thoughts about a communist paradise did not interest them at all.

One mile from the Radom station, the Turchins acquired ownership of a small farm, where they lived, constantly in need. At this time, the general wrote a number of works on the history of the Civil War: “The Battle of Missionary Ridge”, “Experiences and Impressions of the Civil War”, “The Battle of the Federation during the Civil War in the United States of America in 1861-1865.” and others. In these works, he systematized and generalized the experience gained during the war. Turchin's military works have not lost their scientific significance to this day, but they were not successful during the author's lifetime. The slow-witted Russian tried to write the truth about this war, which the victorious northerners at that moment did not need and was not interested in.

Recent years

At the end of the 1870s, Turchin tried to make money by intermediary in the purchase and sale of land plots. However, the general was obviously not created for trade and lost his farm in unsuccessful operations. But the buyer, having bought it at auction, did not dare to evict the former owner from the house, fearing his temperament, and hastened to resell the farm to a friend of the general. Turchin somehow built himself a small house nearby, where he ended his days. He was always in great need, and when his funds completely dried up, he traveled with his precious violin to neighboring towns and made money there by performing street concerts. When rumors of his poverty reached Washington, Congress decided to pay him, as a hero of the Civil War and an honored general, a pension of $50 a year (!).

One of the consequences of the heart disease that struck Turchin in 1864 was a gradual deterioration in mental activity. All this time, his wife Nadine was his reliable support and support.

At the eightieth year of his life, Turchin began to exhibit some oddities (for example, he burned his library with his own hands) and soon after that, on the night of June 18, 1901, he died in the hospital. He was buried at government expense among fallen comrades at Moan City National Cemetery, at the confluence of the Ohio River with the Mississippi and at the junction of three states: Illinois, Missouri and Kentucky. The ashes of his lifelong friend Nadezhda Antonovna, who died on July 17, 1904 at the age of 78, also rest there. A modest granite monument was erected over their grave.

19th Illinois Infantry
8th Brigade of Mitchell's Division

Ivan Vasilievich Turchaninov(January 30 – June 19), better known by its Americanized name John Basil Turchin(English) John Basil Turchin), Russian military leader, colonel of the Russian army, brigadier general of the US federal forces during the American Civil War. The only Russian to become a general in the American army.

Early years

Service in the Russian Imperial Army

Ivan Vasilyevich Turchaninov was a representative of a noble family descended from the Don Cossacks. His uncle, P. P. Turchaninov, took an active part in the Napoleonic wars, rose to the rank of lieutenant general, and was one of the comrades-in-arms of M. I. Kutuzov. Thus, the Turchaninov family was part of the elite of the Russian Empire.

Ivan Turchaninov was born on the Don, in 1832-1835 he studied at the First Cadet Corps in St. Petersburg, then at the military classical gymnasium in Novocherkassk. In 1843, Turchaninov graduated from the Mikhailovsky Artillery School. Having demonstrated extraordinary abilities for military service, he was accepted into service in the guard. With the rank of lieutenant, he served in the Life Guards of the Don Horse Artillery Battery and participated in the suppression of the uprising in Hungary. In 1852 he graduated from the Academy of the General Staff in St. Petersburg with a small silver medal. He was personally acquainted with Tsarevich Alexander Nikolaevich, the future Emperor Alexander II. Ivan Turchaninov took part in the Crimean War, conducted a topographic survey of the Baltic Sea coast, for which he received the rank of guard colonel and was awarded an order.

At the same time, Turchaninov, seeing the imperfection of the social structure of Russia, came to the conclusion about the need for reforms, becoming a staunch opponent of serfdom. Since 1853, Turchin was in secret correspondence with A.I. Herzen, in letters to whom he outlined his views on the fate of Russia.

Emigration to the USA

At the Battle of Chickamauga (September 20, 1863), the northern army suffered a heavy defeat and began to retreat in disarray. Then General Turchin personally led his brigade on a counterattack. His soldiers managed to break through the southern line, but they themselves found themselves behind the advancing enemy lines. Without being confused, Turchin ordered to turn around and break through to his own. Turchin's soldiers again broke through the lines of the southerners and reached the northerners. During this battle, Turchin's brigade captured about 300 southerners and captured several guns. In American historiography of the American Civil War, this feat was called the “Turchin attack behind enemy lines.”

After the Battle of Chickamauga, General Turchin, by order of the War Department, wrote a map of this battle, which is still one of the valuable sources on the history of this battle.

During the Battle of Chattanooga (November 24-25, 1863), Turchin's brigade was part of Baird's division of the Union Army's Fourteenth Corps. During the battle, the Northern troops drove the Southerners from their positions at Missionary Ridge, but found themselves under heavy fire from the top of the mountain range, where the Southerners also had a defensive line. Then the northerners spontaneously attacked the enemy. One of the rank-and-file commanders who led his soldiers into battle was John Turchin. Under heavy enemy fire, the northerners managed to get close to the Confederate positions. The Southern artillerymen, in desperation, lit the fuses of the bombs and dropped them on the enemy, but this did not help them. The Southerners were again driven out and cleared Missionary Ridge. Turchin's brigade was one of the first (according to some sources, the first) to break into the top of the ridge and, in particular, captured 3 cannons. The brigade's losses speak volumes about the courage of the soldiers and the intensity of the battle: 6 officers and 51 soldiers were killed and 11 officers and 211 soldiers were wounded, 4 soldiers were missing, the total losses were 282 people.

As a result of the victory at Chattanooga, the situation in the Western Theater of Operations changed dramatically: the strategic initiative finally passed to the northerners.

1864 Campaign

Thanks to the victory at Chattanooga, in the spring of 1864, General Sherman's army began the famous “raid to the sea,” during which it fought the strategically important battle for Atlanta, the largest military-industrial center of the South. General Turchin, together with his soldiers, took an active part in this campaign.

In the brigade's combat log there is an entry that on February 25, 1864, his brigade came under heavy artillery fire from a Southern battery located on a hill. On Turchin's orders, the brigade stormed the hill and drove the southerners out of their positions, losing 10 people killed and 77 wounded.

Turchin reached the small town of Chattahooche. Unfortunately, in June 1864, Turchin suffered a heart attack and was forced to leave the service. On October 4, Turchin resigned. Thus ended the military career of one of the most talented northern commanders.

Post-war career and legacy

After a heart attack in October 1864, Turchin left military service, returned to Chicago and worked there as a patent attorney and civil engineer. He later became involved in the real estate trade and emigrant settlement in southern Illinois. Apparently feeling sympathy for the Poles, in 1873 Turchin founded the Polish colony of Radom in Illinois, which soon became a prosperous settlement. At this time, he wrote a number of works on the history of the Civil War: “The Battle of Missionary Ridge”, “Experiences and Impressions of the Civil War” and others. In these works, he systematized and generalized the experience gained during the war. Turchin's military works have not lost their scientific significance to this day.

One of the consequences of the heart attack was a gradual deterioration in mental functioning. All this time, Turchin’s wife Nadine was his reliable support and support. Turchin wrote to Emperor Alexander asking for permission to return to Russia, but was refused. The Turchins fell into poverty, but Turchin's soldiers did not forget about their commander. His former subordinates, Senator Joseph B. Faraken and General S. H. Grovoner, obtained a small pension from the US Congress for Turchin - $50. Turchin died in poverty in 1901 in a hospital in Ann (Illinois) at the age of 79. He was buried with military honors at the Mount City Military Cemetery, Illinois. Nadine survived her husband and died in 1904. She was buried next to her husband.

Since the Turchins, as members of the US Army, are buried in a military cemetery, their graves are maintained at the expense of the state.

Personality assessment

Turchin's unusual biography has attracted a lot of attention from historians. The biography of the “Russian American general” has been well studied both in Russia and in the USA. Historians rightly call him an excellent commander, a talented strategist and tactician, a good administrator who skillfully led the troops under his command. Particularly noted is the great courage of the general, who repeatedly personally led his soldiers into attack. The high moral qualities of Turchaninov are pointed out, who abandoned the brilliant career that awaited him in Russia in order to take part in the creation of the United States.

In both countries, dozens of scientific works, including several monographs, are devoted to Turchin. Turchaninov is mentioned in Soviet textbooks on the New History of the United States. In the USA they also remember the glorious name of General Turchin, which constantly appears in various publications.

At the same time, in the West (especially in the southern United States) there is a certain and completely unfounded tendency: for the incident in Athens, Turchin is portrayed as a “wild Cossack” and a villain, although his innocence has become clear. Local residents suffered from the actions of Turchin’s soldiers, several rich houses were looted, but this event cannot be compared with the actual cruelty shown by many other generals of the warring parties. For example, General Sherman's troops, during the famous “raid to the sea,” mercilessly plundered the local population and, using scorched earth tactics, burned many houses. The soldiers of the southern hero, General Nathan Forrest, killed the captured black soldiers after taking Fort Pillow. The hostility of southerners towards Turchin is explained by his pronounced anti-slavery position - Turchin was an active fighter for the abolition of slavery in the USA.

• Since 1853, Turchin was in correspondence (secret until emigration) with A. I. Herzen, and in 1856, while in London, he personally met with him. The warmest friendly relations were maintained between Turchin and Herzen.
• During the Civil War, Turchin's wife Nadine was a doctor in her husband's brigade. Despite the protests of opponents of women's emancipation, Nadine performed her duties so well and selflessly that all complaints against her ceased and she skillfully treated the sick and wounded throughout her entire service.
• Once, when he was ill, Turchin put his wife in command of the regiment, who handled the leadership quite successfully.
• The chairman of the military court that considered the Turchin case was

Family descended from the Don Cossacks Turchaninovs did not belong to the “cream” of the aristocracy, but was considered very respectable. And one of its representatives rose to the rank of general in the United States, becoming a hero of the Civil War of the North against the South.

Portraits in the Hermitage

Portraits Pavel And Andrey Turchaninov decorate the Military Gallery of the Hermitage. If such a gallery existed in the USA, then not the last place in it would be occupied by a portrait of their nephew, known in America as John Basil Turchin.

John Basile – nothing more than an anglicized version of our hero’s first name and patronymic – Ivan Vasilievich . “John” was born on January 30, 1822 in Novocherkassk. His family is the family of a poor landowner, who was the brother of the two heroes of the Napoleonic wars mentioned above.

For Ivan, his uncles served as a model, and he chose an army career, successively studying at the First Cadet Corps, the Novocherkassk Military Classical Gymnasium and the Mikhailovsky Artillery School. The zeal and abilities of the young man were such that he was awarded enlistment in the security guard - the Don Cossack Horse Artillery Battery, with which he went on a campaign against rebellious Hungary in 1849.

Unlike many of his colleagues who were not eager to study, Turchaninov entered the General Staff Academy and graduated with a silver medal just in 1852, when the “academicians” received a number of benefits in terms of further promotion.

The Tsarevich treated him kindly Alexander Nikolaevich, who, having ascended the throne, awarded Ivan Vasilyevich the Order of Vladimir, 4th degree, and promoted him to colonel.

Turchaninov was considered a participant in the Crimean War, although in reality his participation was reduced to topographic survey of the Baltic coast in case of repelling enemy landings.

It seemed that everything promised a brilliant career, but rebellious thoughts were wandering in the head of the General Staff. Perhaps the young officer was influenced by reading "Bells" and correspondence with the editor of this newspaper living in exile Alexander Herzen. Moreover, in the Kingdom of Poland, where Turchaninov was appointed chief of staff of the corps, another uprising was brewing. In general, the empire was shaking.

But overseas, the United States developed as a model of democracy, and Turchaninov’s passion for it took on excessive forms. So excessive that, having taken leave for a honeymoon, Ivan Vasilyevich, together with his young wife, first went to England, where he met with Herzen and then to America.

Alexander II, having learned about the act of his favorite, ordered his expulsion from service.

Anti-slavery

Ivan Turchaninov, now John Turchin, wrote about his impressions of America in a letter to Herzen:

“My disappointment is complete; I don’t see any real freedom here... This republic is a paradise for the rich; they are truly independent here; the most terrible crimes and the darkest machinations pay off with money... As for me personally, I thank America for one thing: it helped me kill outright the lordly prejudices... no work is scary for me.”

The couple, however, successfully fit into the new reality. His wife Nadezhda (in America - Nadine) belonged to the princely family of Lvov and was the same as her husband, a liberal with an energetic character. In America, she became a doctor, and Ivan Vasilyevich himself became a topographical engineer.

After settling in Chicago, they met a lawyer Abraham Lincoln and entrepreneur George McClellan . When Lincoln became president and the Civil War began, McClellan accepted the post of commander in chief of the northern army and began selecting command personnel. Turchaninov received the rank of colonel, as well as the 19th Illinois Infantry Regiment, where the commander, by the way, was chosen by the soldiers themselves from several candidates.

They preferred Turchin, giving a ride to Ulysses Grant, who got the 21st Infantry. Grant later he would replace McClellan as commander-in-chief, and then become president. But at the very beginning of the war, Turchin was better known. In his regiment, he established iron discipline, established combat training, and at the same time was popular among his subordinates.
The soldiers also adored his wife, who headed the medical service and at one time even commanded a regiment in place of her sick husband. Immediate superior
Don Carlos Buell valued discipline most of all and soon promoted Turchin to brigade commander. But then the relationship between them deteriorated. Buell owned slaves and generally sympathized with the southerners, therefore, when several runaway slaves took refuge in Turchin’s brigade, the division commander demanded that they be returned to their owners, but was refused in a harsh manner.

Robbery in Athens

The matter was hushed up, and Turchin, who had been sitting in the rear with his brigade, launched an unauthorized offensive, capturing the cities of Nashville and Huntsfill. When taking the next city with the name Athens borrowed from the Greeks, the brave Illinoisans became carried away with looting, which led to a scandal. What they did was not even close to what the northerners would do at the end of the Civil War, but in 1862 mutual bitterness had not yet reached its peak, and Buell was diligently digging a hole for his subordinate.

Another next president was appointed chairman of the military court - James Garfield , who, in a letter to his friend, spoke of Turchin as follows:

“We expected to see an uncouth man, a typical product of royal power... However, he behaved like a man of deeply noble soul and thereby won our hearts.”

Hearts were won, but the accused was still expelled from the army. The press intervened in the matter, presenting Turchin as a true patriot, and Buell as an accomplice of slave owners. And the situation changed dramatically. Lincoln returned Turchin to the army, and even with the rank of brigadier general.

IN September 1862 with his brigade he went to Virginia, but on the way the train fell from a bridge into the river. The Turchins did everything possible to save the wounded, but the general himself, recalling the 25 dead, said that he had never lost so many people in any of the battles. Here he, of course, exaggerated.

September 20, 1863 In the Battle of Chickamauga, which was unsuccessful for the northerners, Turchin at a critical moment led his soldiers into an attack, broke through enemy positions, and then, realizing that he was surrounded, broke back, capturing about 300 prisoners and several guns.

Under Chattanooga November 25, 1863 The Northerners drove the enemy from their positions under Missionary Ridge, but then came under heavy artillery fire and launched a spontaneous attack on the enemy battery. Turchin and his subordinates were the first to break into the fortification and captured three cannons. The brigade then lost 282 people: killed, wounded and missing.
Turchin's last appearance in battle was on February 25, 1864, at Chattahooche, storming a hill containing another enemy battery.

Inventor of the armored train

Ivan Vasilyevich was distinguished not only by his courage. He was the first military leader to decide to install artillery pieces on railway platforms for the purpose of firing at the enemy. This composition was tested in action, and, quickly moving to the front line, inflicted serious damage on the enemy with its fire. True, the platforms were open, although in reality this was a step towards creating an armored train.

Turchin's brilliant career was interrupted after a heart attack. After retiring in October 1864, he made a living by brokering inventions, then began buying and reselling land.

But Turchin clearly lacked commercial acumen. Having learned about the arrival of 500 families of Polish emigrants, he - actually at a loss - knocked out a large plot of land for them, where they founded a colony Radom. Turchin himself settled nearby and lived with his wife in such poverty that he was sometimes forced to travel around the area, earning money by playing the violin.

The publication of books on the history of the Civil War brought in some income, and the manual "Crew Training" has long been considered the main tactics manual in the American army.

Two of his former subordinates Faraken And Grovener (one became a senator, and the other a general) got him a monthly pension of $50, which helped him make ends meet. Turchin died on June 19, 1901. His wife Nadine was buried next to him three years later in Mount City Military Cemetery, Illinois.

Oleg Pokrovsky

Even more interesting articles

Ivan Vasilyevich Turchaninov was born on January 30, 1822 in the Don Army Region into a Cossack family. He graduated from the artillery school in St. Petersburg. He served for some time in the Don Horse Artillery Battery, then entered the General Staff Academy and graduated with a silver medal.

The capable officer was recruited to serve on the General Staff. Possessing exceptional abilities in the field of engineering and artillery, he supervised the construction of fortifications in Finland. He took part in the Crimean War, where for his valor he was awarded the rank of guard colonel. But due to his passion for the ideas of utopian socialism and disagreement with the signing of a shameful peace for Russia and the progress of military reform, Ivan Turchaninov, together with his wife Nadezhda (Nadin), left for the USA in 1856. Before leaving, Turchaninov visited London, where he met with Herzen (later they corresponded). In the USA he had the opportunity to work as a farmer, worker, draftsman, and civil engineer. Then he got a job as an engineer on the Illinois Central Railroad.

In 1861, the Civil War began in the United States. Under the name of John Turchin, he voluntarily entered the army with the rank of colonel, commanding the 19th regiment of Illinois volunteers, one of the best in General Sherman's army. Being a professional military man of European training, I.V. Turchaninov (John Basil Turchin) developed and published a series of pamphlets on tactics, signal exchange for coordination of actions, preparation of ambushes and training of recruits. These were some of the first works on military science in the United States; the training of the US Army was later built on their basis. In military operations, Turchaninov used a new and unusual for that time tactic of rapid strikes along railways, capturing key railway stations and bridges. He built an armored train with cannons mounted on the front carriage. With the help of this armored train, it became possible to unexpectedly capture the main enemy fortifications. During the siege of Athens (Alabama), in response to the senseless cruelty of the defending Confederates, he “gave” the city to his troops - he promised to “turn away for half an hour” (according to another version, the soldiers of his unit, having burst into the city, brutally took revenge on the Confederates for the massacre of captured northerners). In Athens it all ended with the looting of several houses of wealthy citizens. At the same time, the rest of Sherman's troops, moving south, left behind mountains of corpses and scorched earth. However, because of Athens, it was Turchaninov who is considered one of the most brutal generals of the American Civil War. Quirks of history...

Turchaninov is also known for the fact that, when he was ill, he left his wife Nadin in command, and she coped with this task quite successfully. Times were wild then in America - for transferring command to a woman and for “atrocities” in Athens, Ivan Turchaninov was removed from command and put on trial by a tribunal. In Chicago, the colonel was greeted as a hero. The wife and soldiers of his brigade appealed to the president with requests to reconsider the case. Lincoln intervened - Turchaninov was not only acquitted, but also promoted. He ended the war as a brigadier general, fell ill and retired. The tsarist government refused Turchaninov’s request to allow him to return to Russia.

Turchaninov continued to live in the USA, earning money by playing the violin and performing in small towns. He died in terrible poverty on June 19, 1901. He was buried in Mounds in the military cemetery under the name of General Turchin.