Battle of Kinburn, 12 October 1787 

Targe 2025

The first action of the Russo-Ottoman War of 1787 began with the Ottoman offensive began at Kinburn (in modern Ukraine), opposite the Ottoman fortress at Ochakov (Özi), on a spit of land that defended the approach to the Dnieper River and the port of Kherson. Suvorov commanded the Russian garrison, which included over 300 guns and 1,500 infantry. He had a further mobile corps of around 2,500 infantry and light cavalry, 38 guns, and 1,500 Cossacks. The infantry was drawn from the Orel, Schisselburg, Kozlov, and Murmon regiments, with cavalry from the Marioupol and Pavlograd Hussar regiments. The St. Petersburg Dragoon Regiment and Don Cossacks arrived at the end of the battle. Two Russian frigates and four galleys, part of Admiral Mordvinov's squadron, were sent to support the garrison. The Ottoman force of over 5,000 men was commanded by Serben-Geşti-Eyyub-Ağa, supported by three ships of the line, four frigates, four bomb vessels, and 14 gunboats. They were advised by a French officer, André Lafitte-Clave, whom the Ottomans sent to prepare the defences of Ochakov in April 1787. 

The Ottoman force arrived on 25 September 1787 and opened fire on the Russian gun emplacements. The Russian ships managed to drive off the Ottoman gunboats, but the fleet returned on 11 October and landed an assault force under cover of a fleet bombardment the following morning. Following the usual Ottoman practice, these troops dug trenches and moved slowly towards Kinburn. Suvorov sent two regiments on a sortie, which reached the trenches but were forced back under shelling from the Ottoman fleet, and after their commander was wounded. Suvorov personally led the second sortie, but it also failed when he was wounded, and he was saved only through the courage of a grenadier from the Schlisselburg Grenadier Regiment. At 4:00 pm, Russian reinforcements arrived, and Suvorov launched another attack, this time with his Cossacks infiltrating the Ottoman position from the rear. This forced them back to the coast, where the Ottoman fleet could not provide effective fire support. The Russian artillery decimated the Ottoman infantry on the beaches. At night, the Ottomans evacuated the approximately 600 survivors. The Russians lost 250 dead and 750 wounded.

The participation game will be played with 28mm figures using Lust for Glory rules that we are playtesting for Simon Miller. A development of his For King and Parliament rules.

Russian infantry in their distinctive Potemkin uniforms

Suvorov saved by a grenadier from the Schlisselburg Grenadier Regiment. Russian history might have looked different if he died at Kinburn.