Siege of Lazarevsky
1840 siege during the Russo-Circassian War
The Siege of Lazarevsky (Adyghe: Уае зау; Russian: Оборона Лазаревского форта) took place on the night of 19 February 1840 (7 February O.S) during the Russo-Circassian War. Before the siege, the Circassians engaged in intense intelligence activities. After a 3-hour struggle, the Lazarevsky fortification was captured by the Circassians.
History
Background
Since the early 1830s, the Russians had been landing on the Black Sea coast of Circassia and building fortifications. The Russians built the Lazarevsky fortification in 1839 on the eastern coast of the Black Sea, at the mouth of the Psezuapse River. The garrison of Fort Lazarevsky consisted of the 4th Musketeer Company of the Tenginsky Infantry Regiment and a Cossack Raider Company of the Azov Cossack Host. The fortification also had 8 different cannons and defensive weapons.
Circassian intelligence activities
In December 1839, Circassian spy Musa Shogen infiltrated the Russian army using a fake identity. Despite being Circassian, he played the role of a man who hated Circassians due to personal reasons and blood feuds. He also brought a fake family (a woman) with him.
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This entry incorporates text from “Siege of Lazarevsky” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.