On the authorship of the essay on P. J. Rennenkampf’s military expedition to South Ossetia

The article deals with the problem of authorship of one of the first essays on Ossetia and Ossetians that appeared in the periodical press of the Caucasus. The name of the author of the «Letters from Ossetia» published in the «Tiflis Vedomosti» from issue to issue in the autumn of 1830 remained unknown for a long time. However, there were not so many specialists at the headquarters of the Separate Caucasian Corps who were able to provide readers with such detailed information about the history, ethnography and geography of South Ossetia. Despite the fact that the newspaper was published by a team of authors, a comparative analysis of various publications about Ossetia of this period allows us to conclude that the essay was most likely based on the material of G.S. Gordeev, the author of the statistical and economic description of the «Distance of the Mountain peoples» in the well-known collection «Review of Russian Possessions beyond the Caucasus». It was Gordeev who conducted reconnaissance in the lands of the Ossetians, knew the names of all the tracts and was well oriented on the terrain. Previously, «Letters from Ossetia», getting into various collections, were cited as essays by an anonymous author. The analysis of the stylistics of the text and the facts leaves no doubt that the author of the «Letters from Ossetia» is G.S. Gordeev. Thanks to Gordeev’s detailed account, historians have comprehensive information about General Rennenkampf’s expedition to the Ossetian mountains. We can imagine the scale, nature and results of the military operation. In addition, in the essay, the author also provides detailed statistical data on the number of Ossetians in the period described. Comparison of the analyzed source with the testimonies of other participants in the events and historians of the Caucasian War, such as I.F. Blaramberg and V. Chudinov allows us to see a more complete picture of what happened in South Ossetia in 1830. Comparison of statistical data provided by Gordeev in his essay with figures from other sources also makes it possible to clarify the demographic situation in South Ossetia in the first third of the XIX century, to trace the dynamics of the population of Sothern Ossetian communities.

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