Video: In the service of three emperors: a sensational story about a 107-year-old soldier - myth or reality?
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
Vasily Kochetkov went down in history as a soldier with the longest service in the entire history of the Russian army: he spent about 80 years in the service, having lived to 107 years. On his shoulder straps were intertwined the monograms of the three emperors to whom Kochetkov swore allegiance. The stripes for length of service and distinction were located in 8 rows on his sleeves, and 23 crosses and medals barely fit on his chest. No one has doubts about his merits, but some historians doubt the very fact of the existence of a long-lived soldier named Vasily Kochetkov.
Skeptics doubt: if such a soldier really existed, why did not historians write about him? When Kochetkov was about to erect a monument, some local historians opposed this, citing the lack of scientific sources confirming the existence of a long-lived warrior. Indignant responses appeared in the press: “The authorities willingly bought into an old newspaper duck. And I am ready to spend several million on the monument, not being convinced of the reality of the person to whom it is being erected."
Publications mentioning Vasily Kochetkov appeared at the end of the 19th century in three editions - the Government Gazette (1892), the Bulletin of the Military Clergy (1892) and the World Illustration (1893). Rather, the text was first published in the Government Gazette, and the rest of the editions were reprinted. About the soldier it was reported that he was born in 1785 in the village of Spasskoye, Simbirsk province, was a cantonist - a soldier's son, therefore, from birth, he was on the lists of the military department. He began service in 1811, at the age of 26.
Vasily Kochetkov went through the Patriotic War of 1812, in 1828-1829. participated in the war with Turkey. After serving the prescribed 25 years, he did not leave the army. In the battles in the Caucasus, he was wounded and spent 10 months in Chechen captivity. At 64, he was introduced to the first officer rank - second lieutenant, but allegedly refused this rank, since he considered himself too old for a second lieutenant.
After 40 years of service, Vasily Kochetkov retired, but soon found himself back in the ranks of the soldiers - he took part in the Crimean War. At the age of 78, he fought in the Turkestan equestrian artillery brigade. At the age of 90, Kochetkov volunteered for Serbia for the war with Turkey, a year later he took part in the war for the liberation of Bulgaria. On Shipka, the soldier's left leg was blown off by a shell, but he survived and continued serving in the army.
Vasily Kochetkov died at the age of 107 and, according to the newspaper publication of the 19th century, remained in the service until the end of his days. 11 days before his death in 1892, the artist Peter Borel made an engraving from his photograph, so we have an idea of what a long-lived soldier looked like.
In 2012, Kochetkov was remembered again in connection with the celebration of the anniversary of the victory in the Patriotic War of 1812. Then the governor of the Ulyanovsk region decided to immortalize the image of a warrior in stone as a symbol of the heroism and courage of all Russian soldiers. However, it turned out that in the Ulyanovsk regional state archive there is no information about Kochetkov - in 1864 a fire destroyed all historical documents. In the homeland of the soldier, no one conducted research. At the moment, Vasily Kochetkov is not on the list of famous natives of the village of Spasskoye.
It is surprising that such a phenomenon did not attract the attention of researchers of the Simbirsk antiquity and writers. Questions are also raised by the fact that on the engraving published in the press, Kochetkov has only 10 awards, and the article mentions 23. The photograph on which the engraving was made has not been published anywhere else. Is this an image of a long-lived warrior named Vasily Kochetkov? Why did he enter military service at only 26 years old? And how could he survive at 93 after such a severe injury in the field? Perhaps his age was exaggerated "for a catchphrase" - after all, an article about the hero appeared in 1892, on the eve of the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Borodino?
S. Tyulyakov claims: the soldier depicted in the engraving could have served during the reign of three emperors. Judging by his awards, he took part in the war against Turkey and in the war in the Caucasus. Since he is not wearing a ceremonial uniform, but an ordinary one, not all awards may be on the uniform. Perhaps the personality of Kochetkov was significantly mythologized (in relation to age), but according to S. Tyulyakov, there is no reason to doubt his existence.
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