Gulyay-gorod, alsoguliai-gorod (Russian:Гуля́й-го́род,lit. 'wandering town'), was a mobilefortification used by theRussian army between the 16th and the 17th centuries.
The use of termgulyay-gorod is noted in sources from the 1530s, during theRusso-Kazan Wars, and it was understood not only as a type ofwagon-fort, but also assiege towers. Later, this term could cover mobile barriers like thecheval de frise. It was probably just an adaptation of the German term"wagenburg". At first, it was used to cover artillery during the siege of fortresses. In 1572 gulyay-gorod was very successfully used by the commanderPrince Mikhail Vorotynsky in the heavy fieldbattle of Molodi. So in the following years, the use of gulyay-gorod expanded, and pre-made shields were stored not only in the border fortresses, but also near Moscow. For the transportation and equipment of Gulyai-gorod, a specialvoivode was appointed, who had a separate cavalry detachment for reconnaissance.[1]Giles Fletcher, the Elder, English ambassador toRussia, left an early Western description of thegulyay-gorod in hisOf the Russe Common Wealth (1591).
At the end of the 16th century, the term "gulyai-gorod" was gradually replaced by the term"oboz", literally "wagon train". A Russian eyewitness describes how, during the next invasion of theCrimean Tatars in 1591, Russian troops retreated to Moscow and defended themselves in the "wagon train" — "and by the ancient name - gulyay". At the beginning of the 17th century, another term appeared to denote a mobile fortification -"tabor".[1]
Additionally, for much of the 16-18th centuries, theZaporozhian Cossacks used this type of fortification extensively, as for example byBohdan Khmelnytsky during thesiege of Zbarazh in 1649.
With the proliferation offield artillery, this kind of fortification fell into disuse. In a wider sense the Russian term has come to be applied to foreign mobile fortifications, such aswagon forts ofHussites.
Photographs exist of a similar device that was captured by German forces from the Russians in 1914, at the beginning of World War 1.[2]
Russian armies would construct agulyay-gorod from large wall-sized prefabricated shields (with holes for guns) installed on wheels orsleds, as a development of the wagon-fort concept. The usage of installable shields instead of permanently armoured wagons cost less and allowed the assembly of more possible configurations. Gulyay-gorod provided the cavalry with a mobile and impregnable (for the Tatars) shelter. From there, the cavalry could launch surprise attacks. A common technique was fire ambush, when the pursuers were lured by a false retreat under fire from gulyay-gorod, as it was already in 1572.[1]
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