In the morning of April 10, 1854, the Allied Anglo-French squadron began shelling Odessa. The peaceful trading city was poorly prepared for any military engagement. It is known that the guns used for defense had to be dug out of the ground on the eve of the battle and cleaned of rust: the guns cast under Peter I had long served as posts for tying up small ships.
Six defensive batteries were positioned on the moles. Five of them were soon destroyed.
The enemy’s attack that saw use of more than 350 guns was held back for more than six hours by a single 6th battery under the command of ensign Alexander Petrovich Shchegolev. Of the four guns that Shchegolev had, only one survived by the end of the day. Despite that, Shchegolev’s battery destroyed three enemy ships and prevented the squadron from reaching closer to the shore which would have been dangerous for the city.
For their feat, all Shchegolev’s gunners were awarded an additional annual salary. The lower ranks and volunteers were presented to the Insignia of the Military Order, and the commander was granted the rank of staff captain, the Order of St. George, 4th class and given personal gifts from Grand Dukes Michael Nikolaevich, Alexander, Vladimir and Nicholas Alexandrovich.
The newspaper “Russky Invalid” (“Russian Military Veteran”) was the first to report about the bombardment on April 22; on April 24, the names of the heroes were published in the St. Petersburg “Vedomosti”, and their portraits appeared in the “Russian Art Leaflet”. Fedor (Friedrich) Ivanovich Gross also created seven drawings dedicated to the Odessa events. The Moscow “Printing House of N. Ernst” published a book about the feat of Alexander Shchegolev and his battery.
The feat of the Shchegolev’s battery was reflected not only in official publications, but even in popular prints. The heroes of the Patriotic War of 1812, the Crimean and Turkish wars became heroes of such a “people’s chronicle”. All these are examples of truly “folk” historical events that especially touched people regardless of their walk of life and social status.
In 1905, the “Shchegolev’s Album” by Sergey Plaksin was published in Odessa. Among other things, the album contains a collage with a painting of the battle and portraits of all the gunners of the 6th battery led by commander Alexander Shchegolev. The battle scene was painted by the artist Vasily Petrovich Rybinsky, the portraits were created by a master of lithography Eberhardt Lilie.
Each portrait on the lithograph is placed in an oval medallion. The designation of the unit in which each gunner served is engraved at the top of the oval, their first and last names are at the bottom.
Six defensive batteries were positioned on the moles. Five of them were soon destroyed.
The enemy’s attack that saw use of more than 350 guns was held back for more than six hours by a single 6th battery under the command of ensign Alexander Petrovich Shchegolev. Of the four guns that Shchegolev had, only one survived by the end of the day. Despite that, Shchegolev’s battery destroyed three enemy ships and prevented the squadron from reaching closer to the shore which would have been dangerous for the city.
For their feat, all Shchegolev’s gunners were awarded an additional annual salary. The lower ranks and volunteers were presented to the Insignia of the Military Order, and the commander was granted the rank of staff captain, the Order of St. George, 4th class and given personal gifts from Grand Dukes Michael Nikolaevich, Alexander, Vladimir and Nicholas Alexandrovich.
The newspaper “Russky Invalid” (“Russian Military Veteran”) was the first to report about the bombardment on April 22; on April 24, the names of the heroes were published in the St. Petersburg “Vedomosti”, and their portraits appeared in the “Russian Art Leaflet”. Fedor (Friedrich) Ivanovich Gross also created seven drawings dedicated to the Odessa events. The Moscow “Printing House of N. Ernst” published a book about the feat of Alexander Shchegolev and his battery.
The feat of the Shchegolev’s battery was reflected not only in official publications, but even in popular prints. The heroes of the Patriotic War of 1812, the Crimean and Turkish wars became heroes of such a “people’s chronicle”. All these are examples of truly “folk” historical events that especially touched people regardless of their walk of life and social status.
In 1905, the “Shchegolev’s Album” by Sergey Plaksin was published in Odessa. Among other things, the album contains a collage with a painting of the battle and portraits of all the gunners of the 6th battery led by commander Alexander Shchegolev. The battle scene was painted by the artist Vasily Petrovich Rybinsky, the portraits were created by a master of lithography Eberhardt Lilie.
Each portrait on the lithograph is placed in an oval medallion. The designation of the unit in which each gunner served is engraved at the top of the oval, their first and last names are at the bottom.
