THE FORTRESS OF THE HOLY CROSS: SUPPLY SYSTEM IN 1722–1735 (BASED ON THE MATERIALS OF THE CENTRAL STATE ARCHIVE OF THE REPUBLIC OF DAGESTAN)

Abstract

The article features the problem of supply of the garrison of the Fortress of the Holy Cross on the basis of materials of the Central State Archive of the Republic of Dagestan. As a result of the Caspian campaign of Peter the Great (1722–1723), the Seaside Dagestan, including the Kumyk regions (the Shamkhalate of Tarki and the Zasulak Kumyk lands) entered the jurisdiction of the Russian Empire. To protect the new territories, a system of military fortifications was built. The Fortress of the Holy Cross was founded by Peter the Great in September, 1722, in the estuary of the Sulak River. It gradually became one of the economic, administrative, and political centers of the Caucasus.
The main information source on the matter remains the archive of the garrison headquartered in the Fortress of the Holy Cross. It includes numerous warrants, official reports, and other military documentation. The authors use the data to draw a complete picture of the military supply system invented by Peter the Great. The system provided both combat troops and regular garrisons with everything they needed to protect the borders of the Russian Empire. In fact, the system was based on logistic support (intendance) of imperial troops in peace and war time with ammunition, arms, food, medicines, finance, fuel, etc. 

The last-in first-out system of supply made it possible to reserve food and fodder in the country in advance and systematically bring them to the combat troops.