Complex sentence: Government forces failed to respond effectively to the insurrection at first, partly due to logistical difficulties and a failure to appreciate its scale, but the revolt was crushed towards the end of 1774 by General Michelsohn at Tsaritsyn.
Split into simpler sentences: Government forces failed to respond effectively to the insurrection at first, partly due to logistical difficulties and a failure to appreciate its scale. However, the revolt was crushed towards the end of 1774 by General Michelsohn at Tsaritsyn.