Documents of the Fond “Ataman of the Mikhailovskaya Stanitsa” as a Source on the Gathering of the Don Cossack Host Militia in the Patriotic War of 1812

Abstract

The year 2022 marks the 210th anniversary of a landmark event in the Russian history — the Patriotic War of 1812. The article analyses the contribution of militia regiments, assembled on the basis of the Manifesto of Alexander I of July 6, 1812 “On the gathering of militia within the state,” to the defeat of the French army. The Don Cossack Host gathered 26 regiments, consisting of retired, serving Cossacks, and “outgrowths.” Most documents on the formation of the Don militia stored in the Russian State Military History Archive (RGVIA) and in the State Archive of the Rostov Region (GARO) are well studied and known to the scholarship. However, regional archives contain unique documents awaiting their researcher. The State Archive of the Volgograd Region (GAVO) stores a file containing documents on the preparation of militia in the villages of the Khopersky district, and, in particular, stanitsa Mikhailovskaya. The purpose of the study is source analysis of the documents stored in file 141 (GAVO, fond 332, series 1) and determination of their information potential. The file "Decrees of the Khopersky detective authorities on re-registration of the Cossacks of the Mikhailovskaya Stanitsa ready for the campaign; certificates issued to the Cossacks; a letter for sale of the yard place; correspondence on investigation of cases of theft” includes 9 documents containing information related to the Patriotic War of 1812. Drawing on the analysis of paleographic features of the documents and their contents, the authors suggest and provide evidence that in formation of the file for 1812, the sheets with lists of Cossacks for May-July 1812 were mixed up. Presence of several variants of lists of the Cossacks ready to join the militia regiments demonstrate and personify the process of militia formation from the inside, permit to evaluate the actions of the village authorities. Of decrees of the Khopersky detective authorities, the authors underscore the “Decree of his Imperial Majesty, Autocrat of all Russia, to the Khopersky detective authorities of the Mikhailovskaya Stanitsa of the Don Cossack Host” dated July 25, 1812, which determined the dates for review of the Cossacks ready for the militia and of those sick, unable to serve. Attention is focused on the preparation of documentation for the review. Studying the documentary complex “Ataman of the Mikhailovskaya Stanitsa” on gathering of the Don Cossack Host militia expands historical knowledge of the Patriotic War of 1812 and permits to evaluate the processes which took place in the military organization and were aimed at repelling the enemy attack through the prism of microhistory.