The Vagenburg – russian mobile field fortification in the XV-XVIII centuries. The Vagenburg was made of wooden shields made of thick oak planks transported by a wagon train. During the fighting, shields were mounted on carts or special wheels (in the winter - on a sleigh), fastened with hooks and loops to each other and turned in a straight line, circle or semicircle. The shields provided protection against small arms, and the entire structure helped repel the enemy’s attack (this was especially important to repel cavalry attacks, which infantry — before the appearance of firearms — could successfully resist only in some cases). Between the shields there were spaces of about three meters for troops retreat under their protection. In the shields there were loopholes for muscets or small-caliber guns. The Vagenburg was used both during defense and offensive. An experienced commander was appointed to command The Vagenburg. The Vagenburg was first used either when marching to Kazan in 1530, or when it was in 1552, and, possibly, earlier. The Vagenburg played a decisive role in the Battle of Molody (1572), as well as during the defense of Moscow in 1591 at the site of the future Donskoy Monastery. The battle of Molody took place on July 29-August 02,1572, appr. 50 miles south of Moscow.This was a major battle in which Russian troops came together in battle led by the princes Mikhail Vorotynsky and Dmitry Hvorostinin and the army of the Crimean Khan Devlet I Giray, which included, in addition to the Crimean troops themselves, Turkish Janissaries and Nogai cavalry. Despite significant numerical superiority, the Crimean-Turkish army was put to flight and almost completely killed.
The geopolitical significance of the victory at Molody in the conditions of the Livonian war and the ruin from last year’s Crimean Tatar raid on Moscow was colossal. Reflection of a major conquest, the purpose of which was to renew the subjugation of the weakened Russian state along the lines of the Golden Horde yoke, allowed Russia to defend all the achievements of the previous hundred years questioned: independence, unity, as well as control over fortresses Kazan and Astrakhan.
“... If the Russians didn’t have The Vagenburg, the Crimean Khan would beat us, take us prisoner and bound us all and take everyone to Crimea, and the Russian land would be his land ...” wrote Heinrich Staden, head of the German mercenary squad in Russian troops about the attack of the Crimean Khan in 1572.
Size: 1/32 (54 mm)
Materials: tin alloy, tempera and acrylic paints
Figures are not included
See more: CM 046 Fragment of the Russian Vagenburg, 1572
