Kondraty Ryleyev - Decembrist Revolt

Decembrist Revolt

On the morning of December 26 (December 14 O.S.), 1825, a group of officers commanding some 3,000 men assembled in Saint Petersburg's Senate Square. They refused to swear allegiance to the new tsar, Nicholas I, instead proclaiming their loyalty to his brother, Grand Duke Constantine, and to the Decembrists' constitution, crying "Constantine and Constituzia (Constitution)." They expected to be joined by the rest of the troops stationed in Saint Petersburg, but this did not occur. The revolt was further hampered when its nominal leader, Prince Sergey Trubetskoy, suffered a last minute change of heart. Instead of joining the revolt, Trubetskoy chose to hide in the Austrian Embassy during the confrontation. His second in command, Colonel Bulatov, was also nowhere to be found. After a hurried consultation the rebels appointed Prince Evgeny Obolensky as their leader.

Ryleyev was heard to remark:

What we foresaw will happen. Our last moments are near, but they are the moments of our liberty. We have lived them and now I willingly forfeit my life.

For several long hours there was a standoff between the 3,000 rebels and the 9,000 troops loyal to Nicholas I stationed outside the Senate building, with some desultory shooting from the rebel side. Nearby stood a vast crowd of civilian on-lookers, who began fraternizing with the rebels, but whom the leaders of the revolt did not call upon to participate in the action. Eventually, the new Tsar appeared in person, at the square. He sent Count Mikhail Miloradovich, a hero of the Napoleonic Wars, who enjoyed great popularity with both officers and ordinary soldiers, to parley with the rebels. While delivering a speech encouraging the rebel's to surrender, Miloradovich was shot dead by one of the rebels, Peter Kakhovsky. At the same time, a rebelling grenadier squad led by Lieutenant Nikolay Panov, entered the Winter Palace, but failed to seize it and retreated.

After spending most of the day in fruitless attempts to parley with the rebel force, the Tsar ordered a cavalry charge. However, the horses slipped on the icy cobbles and the officer's retired in disorder. Eventually, as evening neared, the Tsar ordered three artillery regiments to open fire, with devastating effect. To avoid the slaughter the rebels broke and ran. Some attempted to regroup on the frozen surface of the Neva River, to the north of Senate Square. However, here, also, they were targeted by the artillery and suffered many casualties. The cannon fire broke the ice, sweeping away countless dead and dying soldiers into the Neva River. By dusk, that same afternoon, the revolt had been crushed.