The icon of the righteous warrior Ushakov, who survived the bombing of Sevastopol in 2023. Photo: vk.com/razvozhaev_m
The future invincible admiral of the Russian fleet comes from an ancient but poor noble family. Ushakov, who had already become a world-famous naval commander, in order to avoid ridicule from envious people, “too simple, father and brother of any sailor,” asked to find his pedigree in the archives. It was then that it turned out that the Ushakov family was not only ancient: the ancestor of the Ushakovs was the famous Kasozh (Circassian) prince Rededya, mentioned in the Tale of Bygone Years. The same supreme prince of the Adyghe tribal union about whom legends were made: a hero who loved “his tribe and his homeland more than his own head.” In 1022, the pagan Rededya died in a duel with Saint Vladimir’s son, Prince Mstislav.
An interesting detail: the battle between the squad of Prince Tmutarakan Mstislav Vladimirovich the Brave and the Rededi army did not take place at the suggestion of Prince Kasozh himself. The troops had already lined up among themselves, but then Rededya suggested that Mstislav, in order to avoid bloodshed, resolve the battle without the use of weapons, through personal combat. The winner kept “everything”, even the life of the defeated. The combat lasted several hours. Having defeated the hero, Mstislav took out a knife and stabbed Rededya “in front of the Kasozh regiments.” Historians explain: this was the military ethic of that time: strictly follow the agreement. At the same time, the Rededi army did not question the outcome of the battle: the Kasozh lands passed into the hands of Mstislav the Brave. The war was stopped.
Mstislav took Rededi’s children into his family, baptized them and married one of the sons of Prince Kasozh, Roman, to his own daughter Tatyana. Roman Redegich’s great-great-grandson, named Grigory Slepoy, “had a son, Ushak.” The word “ushak” is of Turkish origin and means small and short person. It was this nickname of the “little” descendant of Saint Vladimir in the eighth generation that gave the surname to our great naval commander Ushakov. In the 18th century, the Ushakov family already had several branches. Fedor Fedorovich Ushakov, born on February 13, 1745 in the village of Burnakovo in the family of a retired sergeant of the Preobrazhensky lifeguard regiment, Feodor Ignatievich Ushakov, belonged to “Yaroslavl”. ”branch of the family. Whatever one may say, the victorious admiral is a descendant of both the famous Rededi and the holy Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich, equal to the apostles.
And here it is important to note that until the time when Fyodor Fedorovich was too upset by people envious of his incredible victories, Ushakov not only did not boast of his pedigree, but did not even know him. It was enough for him to understand that his noble ancestors served the Fatherland with faith and truth, and among all his relatives, the admiral especially singled out only his uncle, the younger brother of his father, Ivan Ignatievich Ushakov, a monk named Theodore .
Ivan was eight years younger than the father of the great naval commander, so it was natural that when Ivan grew up, his parents would send him, following in the footsteps of Major Fedor, to serve in the Preobrazhensky Life Guard Regiment in St. Petersburg. One day, during a regular party for the guards, in front of everyone, one of the officers suddenly fell dead. What happened surprised many: not because there was death here, not even sudden death, after all, it was a military company. No, that day something else happened: his companion died suddenly, without dying confession, without communion, taking with him for eternity the entire weight of his sins and errors. They took this seriously in those days! Ivan Ushakov reacted this way to what happened. He took off his enviable uniform, literally and figuratively, and, wearing beggar’s clothes, fled the world to “live in the wilderness” in the forests of Pomerania. Two things are surprising here: the extraordinary act of the Lifeguard himself and the way in which this escape was considered.
After several years of wandering, Ivan was captured by a team of detectives searching for those who lived in the forests. And since Ivan Ushakov was a lifeguard sergeant, he was personally brought to the empress. “Why did you leave my regiment secretly?” – Elizaveta Petrovna was amazed. “Because I prefer the salvation of my soul to all the treasures of the world.” An unprecedented incident: Elizaveta Petrovna not only forgave the fugitive, but also fulfilled his request: to allow him, the servant of God, John, to become a monk! After three years of novitiate in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, on August 13, 1748, thirty-year-old John Ushakov was tonsured a monk with the name Theodore.
The future admiral Fedya Ushakov was only three years old that day, but, of course, the whole story left its mark on both the Ushakov family and Fedya. In addition, over the years, the fame of the “extraordinary monk” grew, as the heir to the throne Peter Fedorovich, the future Peter III, called him.
Unfortunately, we know very little about the childhood of the great naval commander. But we can say unequivocally: Ushakov carried throughout his life the faith that was instilled in him from an early age, proving that military service can be compatible with holiness.
VV Kosovo “Battle of Fidonisi”. This battle, which took place in 1788, was the first victory of Fyodor Ushakov and the Russian fleet in the Black Sea, when the Sevastopol squadron defeated the Turkish fleet. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Just an example. Ushakov’s famous Mediterranean campaign, in which the fleets of the Russian and Ottoman Empires liberated the Ionian Islands from French troops (1798-1800). The alliance with the Turks was a burden for Admiral Ushakov: discipline on the Turkish ships was poor and they constantly cheated with supplies, but the main problem was to curb the cruelty of the Turks towards the defeated enemy. The Turks did not understand the Russians’ merciful treatment of the French prisoners. When Feodor Ushakov, after taking the island of Tserigo, received the first prisoners, the Turkish admiral Kadyr Bey asked him for permission to use a military stratagem against the French. “Which?” – Ushakov asked. “According to their promise, the French hope to return to their homeland and are now calm in our camp. Let me approach them silently at night and massacre them all,” replied Kadyr Bey.
From that moment on, the special task of Admiral Feodor Ushakov was to save the captured French from the “allies”, who were ready to carry out a massacre at any moment. This is how Captain-Lieutenant Yegor Metaksa described the landing on the island of Vido: “Since the Muslims were given one chervonets for each leader of the French, ours, seeing all their persuasions about the Turks as invalid, began to rescue the prisoners with their own money, realizing that several Turks were surrounding the young Frenchman, one of our officers ran towards him at the same moment when the unfortunate man was already untying his tie, having before his eyes an open bag with their heads severed. Learning that several ducats were needed for the ransom, but not having that much, our officer handed over his watch to the Turks, and the Frenchman’s head was left on his shoulders…” When the money ran out, the commander of Our paratroopers ordered to form a square and prepare for a salvo; this stopped the Turks.
Ushakov, who was a man of amazing mercy, raised his soldiers, as the astonished Greeks wrote, “true Christians, in whom courage is united with philanthropy.”
