In 1759 he graduated with honors from the Noble Artillery School and was left with it as a teacher of mathematics. In 1761, Kutuzov was promoted to the rank of ensign engineer and sent to continue his service in Astrakhan. infantry regiment.
From March 1762, he temporarily served as adjutant of the Revel Governor-General, from August he was appointed company commander of the Astrakhan Infantry Regiment. In 1764-1765 he served in the troops stationed in Poland. From March 1765 he continued to serve in the Astrakhan regiment as a company commander.
In 1767, Mikhail Kutuzov was recruited to work on the Commission for the drafting of a new Code, where he acquired extensive knowledge in the field of law, economics and sociology. Since 1768, Kutuzov took part in the war with the Polish confederates. In 1770 he was transferred to the 1st Army, located in the south of Russia, and took part in the war with Turkey that began in 1768.
During the Russian-Turkish war of 1768-1774, Kutuzov, being in combat and staff positions, took part in the battles at the Ryabaya Mogila tract, the Larga and Cahul rivers, where he showed himself to be a brave, energetic and enterprising officer.
In 1772, he was transferred to the 2nd Crimean Army, where he carried out responsible reconnaissance assignments, commanding a grenadier battalion. In July 1774, in a battle near the village of Shumy (now Upper Kutuzovka) north of Alushta, Mikhail Kutuzov was seriously wounded in the left temple by a bullet that came out near his right eye. For courage Kutuzov was awarded the order St. George IV class and sent for treatment abroad. On his return, he was assigned to form the light cavalry.
In the summer of 1777, Kutuzov was promoted to colonel and appointed commander of the Lugansk Engineer Regiment. In 1783 he commanded the Mariupol Light Horse Regiment in the Crimea. For successful negotiations with the Crimean Khan, who ceded his possessions to Russia from the Bug to the Kuban, at the end of 1784 Kutuzov was promoted to major general and headed the Bug Chasseur Corps.
In 1788, during the siege of Ochakov, repelling a sortie by the Turks, he was seriously wounded in the head for the second time: a bullet pierced his cheek and flew into the back of the head. In 1789, Kutuzov took part in the battle of Kaushany, in the assaults on Akkerman (now the city of Belgorod - Dniester) and Bendery.
In December 1790, during the assault on Izmail, commanding the 6th column, Kutuzov showed high-willed qualities, fearlessness and perseverance. In order to achieve success, he timely brought reserves into battle and achieved the defeat of the enemy in his direction, which played an important role in capturing the fortress. Suvorov praised Kutuzov's actions. After the capture of Izmail, Mikhail Kutuzov was promoted to lieutenant general and appointed commandant of this fortress.
On June 15 (4 according to the old style), 1791, Kutuzov defeated the Turkish army at Babadag with a sudden blow. In the battle of Machinsky, commanding a corps, he showed himself to be a skilled master of maneuvering, bypassing the enemy from the flank and attacking from the rear, defeating the Turkish troops.
In 1792-1794, Mikhail Kutuzov headed the emergency Russian embassy in Constantinople, having managed to achieve a number of foreign policy and trade advantages for Russia, significantly weakening French influence in Turkey.
In 1794 he was appointed director of the land gentry cadet corps, in 1795-1799 - the commander and inspector of troops in Finland, where he carried out a number of diplomatic missions: he negotiated with Prussia and Sweden. In 1798, Mikhail Kutuzov was promoted to general of infantry. He was Lithuanian (1799-1801) and St. Petersburg (1801-1802) military governor. In 1802, Kutuzov fell into disgrace, was forced to leave the army and retire.
In August 1805, during the Russo-Austrian-French War, Kutuzov was appointed commander-in-chief of the Russian army sent to help Austria. Having learned during the campaign about the surrender of the Austrian army of General Mack near Ulm, Mikhail Kutuzov undertook a march maneuver from Braunau to Olmutz and skillfully withdrew Russian troops from the blow of superior enemy forces, winning victories at Amstetten and Krems during the retreat.
The plan of action proposed by Kutuzov against Napoleon was not accepted by Alexander I and his Austrian military advisers. Despite the objections of the commander, who was actually removed from the leadership of the Russian-Austrian troops, the allied monarchs Alexander I and Franz I gave Napoleon the general battle of Austerlitz, which ended in the victory of the French. Although Kutuzov managed to save the retreating Russian troops from complete defeat, he fell into disgrace of Alexander I and was appointed to secondary posts: military governor of Kyiv (1806-1807), corps commander in the Moldavian army (1808), Lithuanian military governor (1809-1811).
In the context of the impending war with Napoleon and the need to end the protracted war (1806-1812) with Turkey, the emperor was forced in March 1811 to appoint Kutuzov commander-in-chief of the Moldavian army, where Mikhail Kutuzov created mobile corps and proceeded to active operations. In the summer near Ruschuk (now a city in Bulgaria), Russian troops won a major victory, and in October Kutuzov surrounded and captured the entire Turkish army near Slobodzeya (now a city in Transnistria). For this victory, he received the title of count.
Being an experienced diplomat, Kutuzov achieved the signing of the Bucharest Peace Treaty of 1812, which was beneficial for Russia, for which he received the title of Most Serene Prince. At the beginning of the Patriotic War of 1812, Mikhail Kutuzov was elected head of the St. Petersburg, and then the Moscow militia. After the Russian troops abandoned Smolensk in August, Kutuzov was appointed commander in chief. Arriving in the army, he decided to give a general battle to Napoleon's troops near Borodino.
In the battle of Borodino, the French army did not achieve victory, but the strategic situation and lack of forces did not allow Kutuzov to go on the counteroffensive. In an effort to save the army, Kutuzov surrendered Moscow to Napoleon without a fight and, having made a bold flank march from the Ryazan road to Kaluga, stopped at the Tarutino camp, where he replenished the troops and organized partisan actions.
On October 18 (6, old style) Kutuzov, near the village of Tarutino, defeated the French corps of Murat and forced Napoleon to hasten the abandonment of Moscow. Having blocked the path of the French army to the southern Russian provinces near Maloyaroslavets, he forced it to retreat west along the devastated Smolensk road and, energetically pursuing the enemy, after a series of battles near Vyazma and Krasnoy, he finally defeated his main forces on the Berezina River. Thanks to the wise and flexible strategy of Kutuzov, the Russian army won a brilliant victory over a strong and experienced enemy. In December 1812, Kutuzov received the title of Prince of Smolensky and was awarded the highest military order of George, I degree, becoming the first full Knight of St. George in the history of the order.
At the beginning of 1813, Kutuzov led military operations against the remnants of the Napoleonic army in Poland and Prussia, but the commander's health was undermined, and death prevented him from seeing the final victory of the Russian army. On April 28 (16 according to the old style) April 1813, the Most Serene Prince died in the small Silesian town of Bunzlau (now the city of Bolesławiec in Poland). His body was embalmed and transported to St. Petersburg, buried in the Kazan Cathedral.
The military art of Kutuzov was distinguished by the breadth and variety of all types of maneuver in the offensive and defense, the timely transition from one type of maneuver to another. Contemporaries unanimously noted his exceptional mind, brilliant military and diplomatic talents and love for the Motherland.
Mikhail Kutuzov was awarded the Orders of St. Andrew the First-Called with Diamonds, St. George I, II, III and IV classes, St. Alexander Nevsky, St. Vladimir I degree, St. Anna I degree. He was a holder of the Grand Cross of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, was awarded the Austrian military order of Maria Theresa, I degree, the Prussian orders of the Black Eagle and the Red Eagle, I degree. He was presented with a golden sword "for courage" with diamonds and a portrait of Emperor Alexander I with diamonds.
Monuments to Mikhail Kutuzov were erected in many cities of Russia and abroad. During the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, the Orders of Kutuzov I, II and III degrees were established.
Kutuzovsky Prospekt (1957), as well as Kutuzovsky Proezd and Kutuzovsky Lane, were named after Kutuzov in Moscow. In 1958, the metro station of the Filevskaya line of the Moscow Metro was named after the commander.
Mikhail Kutuzov was married to Ekaterina Bibikova, the daughter of a lieutenant general, who later became a lady of state, Her Serene Highness Princess Kutuzova-Smolenskaya. The marriage produced five daughters and a son who died in infancy.
Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov had a difficult fate, with ups and downs and the highest opals. On the path of a warrior to its peak, he walked for a long time, with great difficulty, having gone through more than one war. His talent as a military leader was most clearly revealed at the end of his life, in the "storm of the 12th year", when he happened to become not just a worthy rival of the French Emperor Napoleon, but his winner.
The commander could be proud of his pedigree, rooted in the distant XIII century. For centuries, the Kutuzov family served the Fatherland. His father was I.M. Golenishchev-Kutuzov, who began his army service as a military engineer and ended it as a senator and lieutenant general engineering troops. He received from his contemporaries for his mind and education the nickname Reasonable Book. Mikhail was born in St. Petersburg on September 5, 1747. In 1761, 14-year-old Mikhailo Kutuzov, having "approximately" mastered the full curriculum, received the first officer rank of ensign engineer. At the age of 15, he was promoted to captain and appointed company commander in the Astrakhan Infantry Regiment, commanded by 32-year-old A.V. Suvorov. Baptism of fire 16-year-old infantry captain Kutuzov received in 1764 in Poland, where he went as a volunteer.
In the ranks of the army commander P.A. Rumyantsev, a 22-year-old officer distinguished himself in the battles near the Ryaba Mogila, on the Larga and Kagul rivers in the Russian-Turkish war of 1768-1774. It was then that his undoubted commanding qualities appeared: courage and determination, resourcefulness and initiative, composure in critical situations of battle. The young officer demonstrated an enviable ability to deal with the soldiers, who earned fame for Russian weapons with their blood: he was able to lead people in battle.
At the end of the war, Lieutenant Colonel M.I. Kutuzov takes part in the reflection of the Turkish landing in the Crimea, near Alushta. In a battle near the village of Shumy (now Kutuzovka) he received a severe through wound in the head. Doctors considered the wound fatal, but the wounded man survived. In 1774 he was awarded the first Order of St. George the Victorious, 4th class. Then Empress Catherine II, experienced in people, said: “It is necessary to take care of Kutuzov. He will be a great general for me.”
At the age of 30, M.I. Kutuzov was promoted to colonel and appointed commander of the regiment. In this position, he showed himself brilliantly: he thoughtfully arranged officer cadres, correctly selected his closest assistants. He knew how to encourage zealous servants, treated negligent people strictly, up to their expulsion from the regimental staff. The regiment became one of the exemplary, and in 1782 its commander received the rank of brigadier.
In 1785, Major General M.I. Kutuzov is entrusted with the formation of the Bug Chasseur Corps. He quickly carried out "combat knocking together" in the spirit of Suvorov's "Science of Victory". He personally selected people, taught young soldiers who came from musketeer regiments, and recruits in marksmanship, skillful use of bayonet fighting, taught not to get lost in hand-to-hand combat, to easily navigate and move in the forest, field, mountains, summer and winter. He instilled the ability to act independently in loose formation.
The formation of M.I. Kutuzov as a military leader took place during the Russian-Turkish war of 1787-1791. The Bug Jaeger Corps takes part in the siege of the Ochakov fortress, Kutuzov receives a second through-the-hole bullet wound in the head, loses his right eye. The award for his courage was the Order of St. Anne immediately of the highest, 1st degree. In 1790 he took part in the assault on the Izmail fortress. Commands the sixth assault column that attacked the New Fortress. After the victorious attack A.V. Suvorov appoints a major general as commandant of Ishmael. For his valor during his assault, Mikhail Illarionovich was immediately awarded promotion and a military award - the rank of lieutenant general and the Order of St. George 3rd class. In 1791, he was awarded the Order of St. George the Victorious, 2nd class, for his distinction in the battle of Machinsky. It was already recognized by all the award of the commander's rank.
In 1792 Lieutenant General M.I. Kutuzov was sent as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Turkey, where he showed himself not only as a great diplomat, but also as a brilliant military intelligence officer. “As a statesman, he brought such great benefits to Russia in the field of military policy, which even the bright glory of the commander does not and should not overshadow,” said one of his contemporaries.
Upon returning to Russia, M.I. Kutuzov in 1794 was appointed chief director of the land gentry (cadet) corps: many of his pupils would become participants in the Patriotic War of 1812, famous military leaders.
Paul I, who became emperor in 1796, sends Kutuzov on a diplomatic mission to Berlin, the capital of Prussia, and promotes him to the generals of the infantry. After M.I. Kutuzov takes command of the Finnish Inspectorate and begins to prepare its troops in case of war against Sweden. The awards of the orders of John of Jerusalem and St. Andrew the First-Called follow. In 1799 M.I. Kutuzov is appointed Lithuanian military governor.
In May 1800, in Volyn, Mikhail Illarionovich began the formation of an army, one of two that were intended for operations against France. Commands troops on large maneuvers near Gatchina. On the western border of M.I. Kutuzov is subordinate to the troops of the Ukrainian, Brest and Dniester inspections.
NEW Emperor Alexander I appoints General of Infantry M.I. Kutuzov as military governor of St. Petersburg. But soon the monarch, dissatisfied with the actions of the city police, removes him from office. The fall lasted three years.
In 1805, the Russian-Austrian-French war began: the imperial aspirations of Napoleon Bonaparte could not but meet with opposition from the leading powers of Europe. Experienced General M.I. Kutuzov was appointed commander of the Podolsk army, which was ordered to be the first to come to the aid of the allies and enter into direct subordination to the emperor of Austria.
However, self-confident Austrians started the war without waiting for the approach of the allies. Decisively acting Napoleon at Ulm forced the army of General K. Mack to capitulate. Napoleon's strategy was to achieve major political goals by conducting lightning campaigns and campaigns, concentrating the main efforts to defeat the enemy in one or two pitched battles. This strategy then ensured victory for the Napoleonic army over the armies of Western European states.
So, the 32,000th Podolsk army (with the remnants of the Austrian troops - 50,000) was alone against more than 200,000 French army. Napoleon launched a new offensive. M.I. Kutuzov, having unraveled his plan, began to retreat, not linking himself to the defense of Vienna. He sought to wear down the enemy, after which he himself had to move on to active operations on the left bank of the Danube.
Near Krems on November 11, Napoleon first met a worthy opponent, calling the lost battle "a massacre." French losses more than doubled those of the Russians.
Soon the Austrians give Vienna to the French without a fight. The threat of encirclement looms over the Podolsk army. The army, hiding behind the rearguard detachment of Major General P.I. Bagration, begins to withdraw. At Schöngraben, a stubborn battle takes place, in which the French failed to gain the upper hand.
All Napoleon's plans to encircle and destroy the Kutuzov army are collapsing. Subsequently, A.P. Yermolov, the hero of the anti-Napoleonic wars, will say: "This retreat is rightly placed among the famous military events of the present time."
Skillfully breaking away from the pursuers, the Podolsk army at Olmutz connects with reinforcements. At the military council M.I. Kutuzov reasonably spoke out in favor of a further withdrawal to Moravia to gather forces. The Austrian generals opposed, who were supported by the emperors Alexander I and Franz I. The combined army, led by two monarchs, moved to Austerlitz, where Napoleon was already waiting for her.
On December 2, 1805, the Battle of Austerlitz took place, after which M.I. Kutuzov was actually removed from the main command, and the allied army was defeated.
Austria signed a humiliating peace with France. The royal court placed all responsibility for the defeat in the battle of Austerlitz on the commander, deprived of power.
On the battlefield M.I. Kutuzov will return only at the very end of the Russian-Turkish war of 1806-1812. However, after the unsuccessful assault on Brailov due to a conflict with the commander-in-chief, Field Marshal Prince A.A. Prozorovsky, in the spring of 1809, he was sent to a new "honorary exile", having received the appointment of the Vilna Governor-General.
The war dragged on. In March 1811, Emperor Alexander I was forced to appoint M.I. Kutuzov as commander-in-chief of the Moldavian army.
The Russian army crosses the Danube. On July 4, the fierce Ruschuk battle took place. It lasted 12 hours, and as a result, the army of the Grand Vizier Ahmet Pasha, who had a fourfold superiority in strength, was defeated and retreated. After that, M.I. Kutuzov went to a military trick in order to lure the defeated Turkish army to the opposite, left bank of the Danube. He decides to leave the Ruschuk fortress and after the victory ... retreat to the opposite shore. So the grand vizier found himself in a skillfully set trap.
The Turkish army, rushing after the Russians, was blocked. M.I. Kutuzov sent a letter to Akhmet Pasha and “resolutely demanded” that the enemy commander conclude an indefinite truce and give him the remnants of the Turkish army and its weapons “for preservation”. The Turks, who were not considered prisoners of war, but "guests" of the Russian army, received food from her. During the negotiations on May 27 in Bucharest, peace was signed with Turkey.
Peace has become a true triumph of the military-diplomatic activity of M.I. Kutuzov. 27 days before the start of the Napoleonic Russian campaign, the commander managed to destroy the strategic plans of Bonaparte: Russia not only secured its southern flank, but also became a Danubian power, and France lost an ally, whose participation in the war with Russia was a big bet.
Academician E.V. Tarle wrote: "Thus, Kutuzov the diplomat inflicted a heavy blow on Napoleon in 1812 even earlier than Kutuzov the military leader." Emperor Alexander I, having received news of the ratification of the “useful” Bucharest peace, elevated the commander, along with his offspring, “to the princely dignity of the All-Russian Empire” and conferred on him the title of lordship.
WITH THE BEGINNING of the invasion of Napoleon's army into Russia, General of Infantry M.I. Kutuzov was out of work in St. Petersburg. But soon he was given command of the Narva Corps to defend the capital. The noble assembly of the Moscow province, which was attended by the emperor himself, elects the commander to the post of head of the Moscow militia. The next day, the nobility of the capital province unanimously takes the same decision. Having received a message about the first such appointment, Mikhail Illarionovich exclaimed: “This is the best reward for me in my life!”
Meanwhile, the 1st and 2nd Western armies continued their retreat deep into Russia. The strategic defense of the Russian army was active. Its goal was to buy time and create favorable conditions for the defeat and expulsion of the enemy. The question arose of a single commander-in-chief. Emperor Alexander I instructed a specially created Special Committee to consider the issue of the candidacy of the commander-in-chief of all active armies. The committee met on the evening of August 5, the day the burning Smolensk was abandoned. The decision was made unanimously - Kutuzov: "All Russia wants his appointment." The sovereign approved the decision only on the 8th - at court they continued to consider the commander the “culprit” of the Austerlitz disaster.
The commander-in-chief arrived at the troops in Tsarevo-Zaimishche on August 17, which caused great enthusiasm lower ranks and officers. They started talking about a general battle, the field for which was found only near the city of Mozhaisk near the village of Borodino. On August 26, the “battle of the giants” took place here. Kutuzov reported to the emperor: "... Be that as it may, Moscow must be protected."
The battle of Shevardino became the prologue of the Battle of Borodino. A day later, the general battle itself took place. Napoleon hoped for a brilliant victory equal to the “Austerlitz sun”. Russian troops were ready to stand up for the Fatherland, for Moscow in a "mortal battle".
Officer of the 12th Light Artillery Brigade N.E. Mitarevsky, who was next to the commander at Borodino, wrote about Kutuzov: “Some kind of force seemed to come from the aged leader, inspiring those who looked at him. I believe that this circumstance was partly one of the reasons why our army, smaller in number, having lost confidence in success with incessant retreat, could with glory withstand the battle with an invincible enemy until then.
The battle of Borodino did not reveal a winner. The official Kutuzov report stated that “the troops fought with incredible courage. Batteries passed from hand to hand and ended up with the fact that the enemy did not win a single step of land anywhere with their superior forces. The British writer Walter Scott in his book "The Life of Napoleon" writes: "... After the battle, the French retreated to their former places, leaving the bloodied battlefield in possession of the Russians."
After the battle on the Moskva River (as French historiography calls the battle of Borodino), Napoleon was forced to admit that out of the fifty battles he had given in this general battle, his troops showed the greatest valor and achieved the least success. The battle of Borodino revealed the crisis of Napoleon's general battle strategy. The Russian army continued to fight.
In the course of the Battle of Borodino, M.I. Kutuzova skillful maneuvering on the battlefield. The maneuver was used by him in order to put his troops in the most advantageous position in relation to the enemy, to create conditions for striking him and repelling his attacks. It is well known that the raid of the Cossack regiments of M.I. Platov and the cavalry corps F.P. Uvarov, held at a time of crisis. He upset the attack prepared by the enemy, forced Napoleon to transfer part of his forces to the breakthrough site.
For Borodino, the great commander of Russia M.I. Kutuzov was granted the rank of field marshal general. Thanksgiving prayers were held in churches in honor of Borodin. Meanwhile, the Kutuzov army left the capital city of Moscow. The commander drove through its streets in a carriage with curtained windows: he understood the gravity of the decision made at the military council in Fili. This was done in the name of preserving the army for future victories. The further course of the Patriotic War showed that this was the right decision.
Having made the brilliantly executed Tarutinsky flank march-maneuver, the Russian army, which Napoleon had lost (!) From sight for several days, set up a fortified camp across the Chernishnia River. Under the leadership of M.I. Kutuzov, the Russian army was reorganized, understaffed, supplied with weapons, ammunition, food and prepared for active hostilities. The merit of M.I. Kutuzov is that he managed to successfully solve the main strategic task - to radically change the balance of power in favor of the Russian army. Its number was increased to 130 thousand people. Taking into account more than 100 thousand people of trained and trained replacements who directly participated in the hostilities, the superiority over the enemy has more than doubled.
In Tarutino M.I. Kutuzov completed the development of a plan for the encirclement and defeat of Napoleon's army with the participation of the army of Admiral P.V. Chichagov and the corps of General P.Kh. Wittgenstein. M.I. Kutuzov rejected Napoleon's proposals for peace or truce sent to the camp with the French General J.A. Laurinston.
The official historiographer of the Patriotic War of 1812, General A.I. Mikhailovsky-Danilevsky wrote: “Staying in Tarutino was for Kutuzov one of the brilliant epochs of his glorious life. Since the time of Pozharsky, no one has stood so high in the sight of Russia ...
In Tarutino, in an incredibly short time, Kutuzov brought the army to the most harmonious position, tired of a thousand-mile retreat and bloody battles, handed weapons to the people, laid siege to Napoleon in Moscow and ... derived all the benefits from a new kind of war.
Having successfully implemented part of his strategic plan waging war and changing the line of operations of the main Russian army, M.I. Kutuzov switched to a new tactical solution - a "small war" - actions on communications and behind enemy lines with the help of army partisan and peasant detachments. As a result, the Grand Army of the Emperor of the French began to melt every day from the attacks of Russian flying squads. The "Small War" actually deprived the French of reinforcements, food and fodder.
After the defeat in the Battle of Tarutino, Napoleon began to retreat. Leaving Moscow gave him a chance to save the Great Army, or rather what was left of it. Leaving the city, he gave a barbaric order - to blow up the Moscow Kremlin. But the rain put out some of the wicks, and the appearance of Cossack patrols did not allow the miners to fulfill the order of the emperor.
Army partisans guarded the French on all roads. Having received the news that Bonaparte was moving to Kaluga, Kutuzov decisively and quickly blocked his path at Maloyaroslavets. In a bloody battle, the French occupied a burned-out town on the Puddle River, but did not dare to break through further. Napoleon turned his army to the Smolensk road ravaged by his army, along which the invader went to Moscow.
Kutuzov switched to parallel pursuit great army. On the heels of the retreating were the Cossack regiments of the Don ataman M.I. Platov and the army vanguard of the infantry general M.A. Miloradovich. There were daily clashes.
The Great Army during the Kutuzov "small war" was melting before our eyes. The Russian commander demanded the main thing from the troops: not to give the Napoleonic troops a day of rest, not to allow them to change the route of flight from Russia. Giving orders to the chief of his staff, Major General A.P. Yermolov, the commander-in-chief pointed out: "The army needs speed!"
For the liberation of the ancient city-fortress on the Dnieper, Emperor Alexander I granted His Serene Highness Prince M.I. Kutuzov the title Smolensky.
The crossing of the Berezina became a real tragedy for the French army. Those remnants of it that were able to avoid death here finally melted away on their last journey to the state border. The Grand Army ceased to exist as a military force. Arriving in Vilna, Kutuzov, with every right to do so, was able to notify the people of Russia, the army and Emperor Alexander I: "The war ended with the complete extermination of the enemy."
DURING the war, M.I. Kutuzov enriched the art of war with new methods of action. M.I. Kutuzov skillfully applied the offensive along the outer lines of operations by delivering concentric strikes in order to encircle and destroy enemy troops. This method proved to be effective in the battle on the Berezina. Napoleon, unlike M.I. Kutuzova preferred to operate along internal lines of operations and sought to achieve success by inflicting strong blows on disunited separate parts of the enemy. This method of conducting an offensive brought success in wars in which small armies participated in a limited area. In the Patriotic War of 1812, military operations were carried out by numerically grown armies in a theater with a frontal width of more than 600 kilometers and a depth of up to 1,000 kilometers. Under these conditions, the conduct of the offensive along the internal lines of operations was no longer effective.
The award for the victory for the commander-in-chief of the main active army, Field Marshal His Serene Highness Prince Smolensky M.I. Kutuzov became the highest military award of the Fatherland - the Order of St. George, 1st degree. He became the first of four people in the 148-year history of the existence of the Russian Imperial Military Order to earn all four of its degrees. Such an honor after him will be awarded to commanders in the field marshal rank M.B. Barclay de Tolly, I.I. Dibich-Zabalkansky and I.F. Paskevich-Erivansky. The great Suvorov did not lead this glorious cohort only for the reason that he received his first George the Victorious immediately of the 3rd class, bypassing the lowest degree.
Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov, with his military feat, entered forever into Russian history as the savior of the Fatherland. Expressing the general feelings of the people and the army, the great Russian poet A.S. Pushkin wrote:
When the voice of the people's faith
I called out to your holy gray hair:
"Go rescue!" You got up and saved.
With the name of commander M.I. Kutuzov is associated with the beginning of the liberation campaigns abroad of the Russian army in 1813-1814, which ended with the capture of Paris. Its commander-in-chief was well aware that the extermination of the Great Army did not yet mean the collapse of the Napoleonic French Empire. Leading the military operations of the Russian-Prussian troops, Kutuzov, in addition, "uses all means in order to attract the people" of the Duchy of Warsaw to the side of Russia. Success crowned his diplomatic efforts to withdraw Austria from the war. The Prussian monarch Friedrich Wilhelm III conferred on the commander at once two highest orders of the now allied kingdom - the Black Eagle and the White Eagle. In his penultimate letter to the family of M.I. Kutuzov wrote: “I have so many worries, I have to bother so much that God forbid I stay alive.” He felt that his strength, undermined by the tension of the war, was leaving him.
The allied forces of Russia and Prussia were advancing along the land of Saxony, approaching its capital city of Dresden. The last stop was the town of Bunzlau. Here Mikhail Illarionovich fell ill, although, overcoming his illness, he continued to lead the troops, signing orders and instructions. In Bunzlau, he was brought the keys to the fortress of Thorn, which capitulated to the Russian troops. 
The great commander of Russia passed away on Wednesday, April 28, at 21:30. The news of his death came to the active army on the eve of the battle with the French near Lutzen. Emperor Alexander I ordered this sad news to be kept secret for the time being, so as not to undermine the spirit of the troops before the battle.
"Savior of the Fatherland" in the "thunderstorm of the 12th year" Field Marshal Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov was buried with full honors on June 11 in the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg. When the funeral train from the Silesian Bunzlau arrived in the city of Narva, ordinary people unharnessed their horses from the wagon and rolled it in their arms to the capital of Russia with a large gathering of saddened people.
The bright memory of the great warrior Fatherland has been alive for two hundred years. It is in monuments, names of streets, squares, settlements, metro stations, in books, films, canvases, for Russian soldiers, starting from the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, in the military order of Kutuzov three degrees.
LEADERSHIP art of M.I. Kutuzov is carefully preserved and creatively used in our time. Generals and officers of the Russian Armed Forces are studying the military heritage of the commander. They draw interesting and instructive lessons from how, for example, M.I. Kutuzov the problem of interaction between troops. Its practical implementation was hampered by the extremely limited possibilities for the rapid movement of troops, the imperfection of the means of communication of that time. Despite this, during the war of 1812 it was possible to achieve coordinated actions of the troops. The direct organizers of this interaction were the commander-in-chief of the Russian army M.I. Kutuzov and the General Staff, which was created in accordance with the "Institution for the management of a large army in the field." The Commander-in-Chief and the General Staff coordinated the actions of the army, corps and partisan detachments in terms of purpose, place and time by setting specific tasks and issuing orders. The main document that determined the tasks of the troops and the nature of their interaction was the "Table of Army Movements" introduced by Kutuzov. The main method of management used by the commander-in-chief was the setting of tasks by issuing written orders and instructions, through officers and generals of the General Staff, orally in person.
M.I. Kutuzov, while retaining the overall leadership of military operations, skillfully relied in his activities on the General Staff, provided the commanders of the armies and corps commanders with broad initiative and independence. In the course of the war, the role of headquarters as command and control bodies increased significantly, which helped to increase the effectiveness of troop operations. Napoleon, not trusting his headquarters and corps commanders, sought to resolve all issues personally, replacing his subordinate generals. This method of control turned out to be ineffective in a war characterized by an increased spatial scope and the participation of mass armies in it.
For the military art of M.I. Kutuzov is characterized by the skillful use of reserves. For example, in the battle of Borodino, he allocated one infantry corps, a cuirassier division and artillery in the amount of 306 guns to his main reserve. In addition, each wing had special reserves: the right wing - 9 Cossack regiments and a cavalry corps, the left wing - grenadier and cuirassier divisions, two artillery brigades. In terms of their strength and composition, these reserves were capable of solving important tactical tasks in the course of battle and battle. In defense, the reserves were entrusted with the tasks of restoring the situation in one of the sections of the position, of conducting counterattacks and delivering surprise strikes against the enemy. In the offensive, the reserves were used to develop success, consolidate the achieved lines and pursue the retreating enemy.
In achieving success in battle, M.I. Kutuzov attached great importance to the skillful use of all troops. Infantry in offensive and defensive battles skillfully combined fire, maneuver and bayonet strikes and, in cooperation with cavalry and artillery, decided the outcome of the battle and battle.
Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov, who with his courage and military labor put himself in the ranks of the great commanders of the Fatherland, was and remains a role model for generals and officers of the modern Russian army.
Sheremetev
Boris Petrovich
Battles and victories
An outstanding Russian commander during the Northern War, diplomat, the first Russian Field Marshal (1701). In 1706 he was also the first to be elevated to count Russian Empire dignity.
In the people's memory, Sheremetev remained one of the main heroes of that era. Soldiers' songs, where he appears exclusively as a positive character, can serve as evidence.
Many glorious pages from the time of the reign of Emperor Peter the Great (1682-1725) are associated with the name of Sheremetev. The first field marshal general in the history of Russia (1701), count (1706), holder of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, one of the richest landowners, he always, by virtue of his character, remained in a special position with the tsar and his entourage. His views on what was happening often did not coincide with the position of the king and his young associates. He seemed to them a man from the distant past, with whom the supporters of the modernization of Russia according to the Western model fought so fiercely. They, the “thin ones”, did not understand the motivation of this blue-eyed, overweight and unhurried person. However, it was he who was needed by the king in the most hard years Great Northern War.
The Sheremetev family was connected with the reigning dynasty by blood ties. The family of Boris Petrovich was one of the influential boyar families and even had common ancestors with the reigning Romanov dynasty.
By the standards of the middle of the 17th century, his closest relatives were very educated people and did not shy away from talking with foreigners, taking everything positive from them. Boris Petrovich's father, Pyotr Vasilyevich Bolshoi, in 1666-1668, being a Kyiv governor, defended the right to exist of the Kyiv Mohyla Academy. Unlike his contemporaries, the governor shaved his beard, which was a terrible nonsense, and wore a Polish dress. However, he was not touched because of his military and administrative talents.
Born on April 25, 1652, the son of Peter Vasilyevich was assigned to study at the Kyiv Mohyla Academy. There Boris learned to speak Polish, Latin, got an idea of Greek and learned a lot that was unknown to the vast majority of his compatriots. Already in early youth, Boris Petrovich became addicted to reading books and by the end of his life he had collected a large and well-organized library. The boyar was well aware that Russia needed progressive reforms and supported the young Tsar Peter.
However, he began his "sovereign service" in the traditional Moscow style, being at the age of 13 granted to the room stewards.
The military career of the young nobleman began only in the reign of Fyodor Alekseevich (1676-1682). The tsar appointed him as an assistant to his father, who commanded one of the "regiments" in the Russian-Turkish war (1676-1681). In 1679, he already acted as a "comrade" (deputy) governor in the "big regiment" of Prince Cherkassky. And just two years later, he headed the newly formed Tambov city category, which, in comparison with the modern structure of the armed forces, can be equated with the command of a military district.
In 1682, in connection with the accession to the throne of the new tsars Peter and Ivan, he was granted the title of boyar. The ruler Princess Sofya Alekseevna and her favorite, Prince Vasily Vasilyevich Golitsyn, remembered Boris Petrovich in 1685. The Russian government was in difficult negotiations with the Commonwealth on the conclusion of the "Eternal Peace". This is where it took someone who knew European etiquette and foreign languages boyar. His diplomatic mission was extremely successful. After lengthy negotiations, they managed to conclude an “Eternal Peace” with Poland and achieve legal recognition of the fact that Moscow had conquered Kyiv 20 years ago. Then, after only a few months, Sheremetev already unanimously headed the embassy sent to Warsaw to ratify the treaty and clarify the details of the anti-Ottoman alliance being created. From there, then I had to call on Vienna, which was also preparing to continue the fight against the Turks.
The diplomatic path better matched the military one with the inclinations and talents of the intelligent but cautious Boris Petrovich. However, masterful Fate decided otherwise and led him through life by no means the most convenient road. Upon returning from Europe to Moscow, the boyar again had to put on a military uniform, which he no longer took off until his death.
In the infantry, Field Marshal Sheremetev, from an ancient noble family, can rightly be called the first Russian, tall, with soft features and in all respects similar to a big general.
Swede Ehrenmalm, opponent of Sheremetev
Boris Petrovich commanded the regiments of his Belgorod rank during the unsuccessful second Crimean campaign (1689). His detached position in relation to the events in Moscow in the summer of 1689, when Peter I came to power, played a bad joke on him. The boyar was taken under "suspicion". There was no disgrace, but until 1696 Boris Petrovich would remain on the border with the Crimean Khanate, commanding his "rank".
During the first Azov campaign 1695 Sheremetev led an army against the Turkish fortresses on the Dnieper. Boris Petrovich turned out to be more successful than the tsar and his associates. In the campaign of 1695, the Russian-Ukrainian army took three fortresses from the Turks (July 30 - Kyzy-Kermen, August 1 - Eski-Tavan, August 3 - Aslan-Kermen). The name of Sheremetev became known throughout Europe. At the same time, Azov was never taken. Allied help was needed. In the summer of 1696, Azov fell, but this success showed that a further war with the Ottoman Empire was possible only with the combined efforts of all countries participating in the "Holy League".
Trying to please the tsar, Boris Petrovich of his own free will and at his own expense went on a trip to Europe. The Boyarin left Moscow three months after Peter himself left for the West and traveled for more than a year and a half, from July 1697 to February 1699, spending 20,500 rubles on this - a huge amount at that time. The true, so to speak, human price of such a sacrifice becomes clear from the description given to Sheremetev by a well-known Soviet researcher epoch XVIII century Nikolai Pavlenko: “... Boris Petrovich did not differ in disinterestedness, but he did not dare to steal on the scale that Menshikov allowed himself. The representative of the oldest aristocratic family, if he stole, then so moderately that the size of the stolen did not cause envy among others. But Sheremetev knew how to beg. He did not miss the opportunity to remind the tsar of his "poverty", and his acquisitions were the fruit of the royal awards: it seems that he did not buy estates ... "
Having passed through Poland, Sheremetev again visited Vienna. Then he went to Italy, visited Rome, Venice, Sicily, and finally reached Malta (having received audiences during the trip with the Polish king and the Elector of Saxony Augustus, Holy Roman Emperor Leopold, Pope Innocent XII, Grand Duke of Tuscany Cosimo III) . In La Valletta, he was even knighted in the Order of Malta.
Not a single Russian could boast of such a European "train". The very next day after his return, at a feast at Lefort, wearing a German dress with a Maltese cross on his chest, Sheremetev boldly introduced himself to the tsar and was treated with delight by him.
However, the mercy was short-lived. The suspicious “Herr Peter”, according to the soon published “boyar list”, again ordered Boris Petrovich to go away from Moscow and be “near the city of Arkhangelsk”. They remembered him again only a year later, with the beginning of the Northern War (1700-1721). The war began in August with the march of the main forces of the Russian army to Narva. Boyar Sheremetev was appointed commander of the "local cavalry" (horse noble militia). In the Narva campaign of 1700, the Sheremetev detachment acted extremely unsuccessfully.
During the siege, Sheremetev, who was conducting reconnaissance, reported on the approach of a large Swedish army to Narva. Russian military leaders, according to Swedish historians, panicked. The captured major of the Swedish army, the Livonian Patkul, allegedly told them that an army of 30 to 32 thousand people approached Charles XII. The figure seemed quite reliable, and they believed it. The king also believed - and fell into despair. During the battle near Narva on November 19 (30), 1700, the valiant "local cavalry", without engaging in battle, shamefully fled, carrying Boris Petrovich into the water, who desperately tried to stop her. More than a thousand people drowned in the river. Sheremetev was saved by a horse, and the royal disgrace was averted by the sad fate of all the other generals, who were captured by the triumphant enemy in full force. In addition, after a catastrophic failure, the tsar made a temporary compromise with the moods of his aristocracy and chose a new commander among the most well-born national elite, where Sheremetev at that time was the only person with any knowledge of military affairs. Thus, we can say that, in fact, the war itself at the end of 1700 put him at the head of the main forces of the Russian army.
With the advent of the second military summer, Boris Petrovich in the royal letters addressed to him began to be called Field Marshal General. This event closed the protracted sad chapter in Sheremetev's life and opened a new one, which, as it turned out later, became his "swan song". The last setbacks came in the winter of 1700-1701. Prompted by the impatient royal shouts, Boris Petrovich tried to carefully “feel” Estonia with his saber (Peter sent the first decree demanding activity only 16 days after the disaster at Narva), in particular, to capture the small fortress of Marienburg, which stood in the middle of an ice-bound lake. But everywhere he was rebuffed and, having retreated to Pskov, he began to put in order the troops he had.
The combat effectiveness of the Russians was still extremely low, especially in comparison with the European enemy, albeit not numerous. Sheremetev had a good idea of the strength of the Swedes, because he got acquainted with the organization of military affairs in the West during a recent trip. And he conducted the preparation in accordance with his thorough and unhurried character. Even the visits of the tsar himself (in August and October), who were eager to resume hostilities as soon as possible, could not significantly speed up the events. Sheremetev, constantly pushed by Peter, began to make his devastating campaigns in Livonia and Estonia from Pskov. In these battles, the Russian army was tempered and accumulated invaluable military experience.
The appearance in Estland and Livonia in the autumn of 1701, 9 months after Narva, of fairly large Russian military formations by the high Swedish military command was perceived with some skepticism - in any case, such a reaction was noted by the supreme commander in chief, King Charles XII. The local Livonian commanders immediately sounded the alarm and tried to convey it to the king, but they had no success in this. The king made it clear that Livonia had to manage with the forces that he left them. The raids of the Russian detachments of Sheremetev in September 1701 were so far seemingly episodic and, at first glance, did not pose a big threat to the integrity of the kingdom.
The battles near Räpina Manor and Rõuge were only a test of strength for the Russians, a serious threat to the Swedes in this region lurked in the future. The Russians were convinced that “the Swede is not as terrible as he is painted”, and that under certain conditions it will be possible to win over him. It seems that Peter's headquarters realized that Karl had given up on Livonia and Ingermanland and left them to their own fate. It was decided to use these provinces both as a kind of training ground for acquiring combat experience and as an object for achieving the main strategic goal - access to the Baltic coast. If this strategic goal was unraveled by the Swedes, then they did not take adequate measures to counter it.
Peter, pleased with the actions of the field marshal in the Baltic states, wrote to Apraksin:Boris Petrovich stayed in Livonia fairly well.
This passivity untied the hands of the Russian army and made it possible to open new theaters of military operations that were inconvenient for the enemy, as well as to seize the strategic initiative in the war. fighting Russians with the Swedes until 1707 were of a strange nature: the opponents, as it were, stepped on each other's tail, but did not enter into a decisive battle between themselves. Charles XII with the main forces was chasing Augustus II all over Poland at that time, and the Russian army, having grown stronger and on its feet from the devastation of the Baltic provinces, proceeded to conquer them, recapturing cities one by one and step by step imperceptibly approaching the achievement of its main goal - access to the Gulf of Finland.
It is in this vein that all subsequent battles in this area, including the battle of Erastfer, should be considered.
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In December 1701, cavalry general B. Sheremetev, having waited for the reinforcements to arrive and the concentration of all troops into one fist, decided to inflict a new sudden blow on the Livonian field army, Major General V.A. von Schlippenbach, located in winter quarters. The calculation was based on the fact that the Swedes will be busy celebrating Christmas. At the end of December, the impressive corps of Sheremetev, numbering 18,838 people with 20 guns (1 mortar, 3 howitzers, 16 guns), set out from Pskov on a campaign. Sheremetev used about 2,000 sleds to transfer troops across Lake Peipus. This time Sheremetev did not act blindly, but had intelligence about the forces and deployment of Schlippenbach's units: spies from Dorpat told him about this in Pskov. According to the information received, the main forces of the Swedes were stationed in this city and its environs.
The commander of the Livland field corps, Major General Schlippenbach, against whom the Russian actions were directed, had about 5,000 regular and 3,000 irregular troops scattered over posts and garrisons from Narva to Lake Luban. Due to the inexplicable either carelessness or indiscretion of Schlippenbach, the Swedes learned too late about the movement of large enemy forces. Only on December 28/29, the movement of Russian troops at the Larf manor was noticed by patrols of the Landmilitia battalion. As in previous operations, the element of tactical surprise for Sheremetev's corps was lost, but on the whole his strategic plan was a success.
Schlippenbach, having finally received reliable news about the Russian movement, was forced to give them a decisive battle. Taking with him 4 infantry battalions, 3 cavalry regiments, 2 dragoon regiments and 6 3-pounder guns, he moved towards Sheremetev. So on January 1, 1702, a counter battle began at Erastfer, the first hours of which were unsuccessful for Sheremetev's troops. Encounter combat is generally a complex matter, and for the not fully trained Russian soldiers and officers, it turned out to be doubly difficult. During the battle, confusion and uncertainty arose, and the Russian column had to retreat.
It is difficult to say how this Sheremetev operation would have ended if the artillery had not arrived in time. Under the cover of artillery fire, the Russians recovered, again lined up in battle formation and decisively attacked the Swedes. A stubborn four-hour battle ensued. The Swedish commander was about to retreat behind the positions fortified with a palisade at the Erastfer manor, but Sheremetev guessed the enemy’s plan and ordered to attack the Swedes in the flank. Russian artillery, mounted on a sledge, began to fire at the Swedes with grapeshot. As soon as the Swedish infantry began to retreat, the Russians overturned the enemy squadrons with a swift attack. The Swedish cavalry, despite the attempts of some officers to put it in combat formation, fled in a panic from the battlefield, overturning its own infantry. The ensuing darkness and fatigue of the troops forced the Russian command to stop the pursuit; only a detachment of Cossacks continued to chase the retreating Swedish troops.
Sheremetev did not dare to pursue the retreating enemy and returned back to Pskov, justifying himself to the tsar by the fatigue of his horses and deep snow. So the Russian troops won their first major victory in the Northern War. Of the 3000-3800 Swedes who participated in the battle, 1000-1400 people were killed, 700-900 people. fled and deserted and 134 people. were taken prisoner. The Russians, in addition, captured 6 cannons. The losses of Sheremetev's troops, according to a number of historians, range from 400 to 1000 people. E. Tarle gives the number 1000.
This victory brought Sheremetev the rank of Field Marshal and the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called. The soldiers of his corps received a silver ruble each. The significance of the Erastfer victory was difficult to overestimate. The Russian army demonstrated its ability to smash a formidable enemy in the field, albeit with superior forces.
The Russian army was ready to take decisive action in a new campaign on the territory of Estonia and Livonia only by the beginning of July 1702. With approximately 24,000 dragoons and soldiers, Sheremetev finally crossed the Russian-Swedish border on July 13.
On July 18/19, Sheremetev's corps met with the Swedes in the battle of Hummelshof. The Swedes were the first to start the battle. The Swedish cavalry unleashed a blow on 3 regiments of Russian dragoons. The Swedish artillery provided effective assistance to the cavalry. Russian units began to retreat. At this time, the Swedish cavalrymen, sent to eliminate the alleged flank coverage, themselves entered the rear and flanks of the Russian cavalry and attacked it. The situation for the Russians was critical, the Swedish cavalry captured 6 cannons and almost the entire convoy from us. The situation was saved by the dragoons. They delayed the onslaught of the enemy and fought desperately at the bridge over the river. At the most critical moment, 2 more dragoon regiments (about 1300 people) from Sheremetev's main forces came to their aid, and this decided the outcome of the battle. Schlippenbach could have broken the enemy in parts, but missed the opportunity to send infantry and cannons to the aid of his cavalry.
Soon military happiness, it seemed, again began to lean in favor of the Swedes. They were also approached by two battalions, which directly from the march entered the battle. But they failed to turn the tide of battle in their favor. Its outcome was decided with the approach to the battlefield of the main forces of the Russian corps.
After effective artillery preparation, which upset the ranks of the Swedish cavalry, the Russian troops launched a general offensive. The front of the Swedish cavalry collapsed. Its advanced units turned into a stampede, crushed their infantry and rushed to flee along the road to Pernau. The attempts of individual small detachments of infantry and cavalry to hold back the onslaught of the Russian troops were broken. Most of the infantry also fled from the battlefield and took refuge in the surrounding forests and swamps.
As a result, the Swedes suffered a heavy defeat. The ratio of forces in the battle was 3.6:1 in favor of the Russians. About 18 thousand people took part in the battle from our side, and about 5 thousand people from the Swedes.
O. Sjögren believes that up to 2 thousand Swedish soldiers fell on the battlefield, but this figure seems to be underestimated. Russian contemporary sources estimate enemy losses at 2400 killed, 1200 deserters, 315 prisoners, 16 cannons and 16 banners. The losses of Russian troops are estimated at 1000-1500 people killed and wounded.
After Gummelshof, Sheremetev became the practical owner of all of southern Livonia, but Peter I considered securing these lands for himself premature - he still did not want to quarrel with Augustus II. According to an agreement with him, Livonia, after recapturing it from the Swedes, was to go to Poland.
After Gummelshof, Sheremetev's corps made a series of devastating raids on the Baltic cities. Karkus, Helmet, Smilten, Wolmar, Wesenberg were devastated. We also went to the city of Marienburg, where the commandant Tillo von Tillau surrendered the city to the mercy of Sheremetev. But not all Swedes approved of this idea: when the Russians entered the city, artillery captain Wolf and his comrades blew up a powder warehouse, and many Russians died with them under the rubble of buildings. Angry for this, Sheremetev did not release any of the surviving Swedes, and ordered all the inhabitants to be taken prisoner.
The Russian army and Russia as a whole, during the march to Marienburg, was enriched by another unusual acquisition. Colonel R.Kh. Bauer (Bour) (according to Kostomarov, Colonel Balck) looked after a pretty concubine for himself there - a 16-year-old Latvian, Pastor Gluck's servant, and took her with him to Pskov. In Pskov, Field Marshal Sheremetev himself laid eyes on Marta Skavronskaya, and Marta obediently served him. Then Menshikov saw her, and after him - Tsar Peter himself. The matter ended, as you know, with the fact that Marta Skavronskaya became the wife of the Tsar and Empress of Russia Catherine I.
After Hummelshof, Boris Petrovich commanded the troops during the capture of Noteburg (1702) and Nienschantz (1703), and in the summer of 1704 he unsuccessfully besieged Dorpat, for which he again fell into disgrace.
In June 1705, Peter arrived in Polotsk and, at a military council on the 15th, instructed Sheremetev to lead another campaign against Lewenhaupt in Courland. The latter sat as a big thorn in the eyes of the Russians and constantly attracted their attention. Peter’s instructions to Field Marshal Sheremetev said: “Go on this easy campaign (so that there is not a single footman) and, with the help of God, search for the enemy, namely General Levenhaupt. All the power of this campaign lies in cutting him off from Riga.
At the beginning of July 1705, the Russian corps (3 infantry, 9 dragoon regiments, a separate dragoon squadron, 2500 Cossacks and 16 guns) set off on a campaign from Druya. Enemy intelligence worked so poorly that Count Lewenhaupt had to be content with numerous rumors, and not real data. Initially, the Swedish commander estimated the enemy forces at 30 thousand people (Adam Ludwig Lewenhaupt berättelse. Karolinska krigare berättar. Stockholm. 1987).
The Courland Caroline Corps, stationed near Riga, consisted of about 7 thousand infantry and cavalry with 17 guns. Under such conditions, it was very difficult for the count to act. However, the Russians left him no choice. The king's instructions were unequivocal. Sheremetev was supposed to lock up Lewenhaupt's corps in Courland. The task is more than serious.
In anticipation of the enemy, the count retreated to Gemauerthof, where he took up advantageous positions. The front of the Swedish position was covered by a deep stream, the right flank ran into a swamp, and the left flank into a dense forest. Lewenhaupt's corps was significantly superior in its qualities to Schlippenbach's Livonian field army.
The military council convened on July 15, 1705 by Sheremetev decided to attack the enemy, but not head-on, but using military cunning, simulating a retreat during the attack, in order to lure the enemy out of the camp and hit him from the flank with cavalry hidden in the forest. Due to the uncoordinated and spontaneous actions of the Russian commanders, the first stage of the battle was lost, and the Russian cavalry began to retreat in disarray. The Swedes vigorously pursued her. However, their previously covered flanks were exposed. At this stage of the battle, the Russians showed steadfastness and a bold maneuver. With the onset of darkness, the battle ceased, and Sheremetev retreated.
Charles XII was extremely pleased with the victory of his troops. On August 10, 1705, Count Adam Ludwig Lewenhaupt was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general. At the same time, Sheremetev was keenly experiencing failure. It took the consolation of Tsar Peter himself, who noted that military happiness is changeable. However, this Swedish success did little to change the balance of power in the Baltics. Soon Russian troops took two strong Courland fortresses Mitava and Bausk. The weakened corps of Lewenhaupt at that time sat out behind the walls of Riga, not daring to go into the field. Thus, even the defeat brought great benefits to Russian weapons. At the same time, Gemauerthof showed that the Russian military leaders still had a lot of work to do - most dangerously, to train the cavalry and work out coherence between the military branches.
From this time, the decline of Sheremetev's career will begin. In 1708, he will be declared one of the culprits for the defeat of the Russian army in the battle of Golovchino. In the victorious battle of Poltava (1709), Boris Petrovich will be the nominal commander in chief. Even after the Poltava triumph, when awards poured generously on most of the generals, he had to be content with a very modest award, more like a formal go-ahead - a run-down village with a downright symbolic name Black Dirt.
At the same time, it cannot be said that Peter began to treat the field marshal very badly. It suffices to recall one example. In 1712, upon reaching his 60th birthday, Boris Petrovich fell into another depression, lost his taste for life and decided to retire from the worldly bustle to a monastery in order to spend the rest of his days there in complete peace. He even chose a monastery - the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. Peter, having learned about the dream, became angry, advising his comrade-in-arms to "throw the nonsense out of your head." And, to make it easier for him to do this, he ordered to marry immediately. And without delaying the matter, he immediately personally looked for a bride - the 26-year-old widow of his own uncle, Lev Kirillovich Naryshkin.
Some modern researchers, evaluating the real achievements of Sheremetev from the point of view of European military art, agree with the tsar, giving the field marshal a not too flattering mark. For example, Alexander Zaozersky, the author of the most detailed monograph on the life and work of Boris Petrovich, expressed the following opinion: “... Was he, however, a brilliant commander? His successes on the battlefields hardly make it possible to answer this question in the affirmative. Of course, under his leadership, Russian troops more than once won victories over the Tatars and over the Swedes. But you can name more than one case when the field marshal suffered defeat. In addition, successful battles took place with the preponderance of his forces over the enemy; therefore, they cannot be a reliable indicator of the degree of his art or talent ... "
But in the people's memory, Sheremetev forever remained one of the main heroes of that era. Soldiers' songs can serve as evidence, where he appears only as a positive character. This fact, probably, was also influenced by the fact that the commander always took care of the needs of ordinary subordinates, thereby favorably differing from most other generals.
At the same time, Boris Petrovich got along well with foreigners. Suffice it to recall that one of his best friends was the Scot Jacob Bruce. Therefore, Europeans who left written evidence of Russia during the time of Peter the Great, as a rule, speak well of the boyar and classify him among the most prominent royal nobles. For example, the Englishman Whitworth believed that “Sheremetev is the most polite person in the country and the most cultured” (although the same Whitworth did not highly appreciate the boyar’s military leadership abilities: “... The greatest grief of the tsar is the lack of good generals. Field Marshal Sheremetev is a man, no doubt possessing personal courage, having successfully completed the expedition entrusted to him against the Tatars, extremely beloved in his estates and by ordinary soldiers, but still not dealing with a regular enemy army ... "). The Austrian Korb noted: "He traveled a lot, was therefore more educated than others, dressed in German and wore a Maltese cross on his chest." With great sympathy, even the enemy, the Swede Erenmalm, spoke of Boris Petrovich with great sympathy: “In infantry, Field Marshal Sheremetev, from an ancient noble family, tall, with soft features and in all respects similar to a big general. He is somewhat fat, with a pale face and blue eyes, wears blond wigs, and both in clothes and in carriages he is the same as any foreign officer ... "
But in the second half of the war, when Peter nevertheless put together a strong conglomerate of European and his own young generals, he began to trust the field marshal less and less to command even small corps in the main theaters of operations. Therefore, all the main events of 1712-1714. - the struggle for northern Germany and the conquest of Finland - did without Sheremetev. And in 1717 he fell ill and had to ask for a long vacation.
From Sheremetev's will:take my sinful body and bury it in the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery or where the will of His Majesty will take place.
Boris Petrovich never returned to the army. He was ill for two years, and died, never having lived to win. The departure from the life of the commander finally finally reconciled the king with him. Nikolai Pavlenko, one of the most thorough researchers of the Petrine era, wrote the following on this occasion: “The new capital lacked its own pantheon. Peter decided to create it. The grave of the field marshal was supposed to open the burial of noble people in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. At the behest of Peter Sheremetev's body was delivered to St. Petersburg and solemnly buried. The death of Boris Petrovich and his funeral are as symbolic as the whole life of the field marshal. He died in the old capital, and is buried in the new one. In his life, the old and the new also intertwined, creating a portrait of a figure in the period of transition from Muscovite Russia to the Europeanized Russian Empire.
BESPALOV A.V., Doctor of History, Professor
Sources and literature
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Letters and papers of Emperor Peter the Great. v. 1-9. St. Petersburg, 1887-1950
Northern War 1700-1721 Collection of documents. v. 1., IRI RAN. 2009
Soviet historical encyclopedia. 1976. v. 16
Internet
Vatutin Nikolai Fyodorovich
Operations "Uranus", "Little Saturn", "Jump", etc. etc.
A true war worker
Antonov Alexey Innokentievich
He became famous as a talented staff officer. Participated in the development of almost all significant operations of the Soviet troops in the Great Patriotic War since December 1942.
The only one of all the awarded Soviet military leaders with the Order of Victory in the rank of army general, and the only Soviet holder of the order who was not awarded the title of Hero Soviet Union.
Benigsen Leonty
An unfairly forgotten commander. Having won several battles against Napoleon and his marshals, he drew two battles with Napoleon, losing one battle. Participated in the battle of Borodino. One of the contenders for the post of commander-in-chief of the Russian army during the Patriotic War of 1812!
Yudenich Nikolai Nikolaevich
One of the most successful Russian generals during the First World War. The Erzerum and Sarakamysh operations carried out by him on the Caucasian front, carried out in extremely unfavorable conditions for the Russian troops, and ending in victories, I believe, deserve to be included in a row with the brightest victories of Russian weapons. In addition, Nikolai Nikolayevich, distinguished by modesty and decency, lived and died an honest Russian officer, remained faithful to the oath to the end.
A talented commander who proved himself during the Time of Troubles at the beginning of the 17th century. In 1608, Skopin-Shuisky was sent by Tsar Vasily Shuisky to negotiate with the Swedes in Novgorod the Great. He managed to agree on Swedish assistance to Russia in the fight against False Dmitry II. The Swedes recognized Skopin-Shuisky as the undisputed leader. In 1609, with the Russian-Swedish army, he came to the rescue of the capital, which was under siege by False Dmitry II. In the battles near Torzhok, Tver and Dmitrov, he defeated detachments of adherents of the impostor, liberated the Volga region from them. He removed the blockade from Moscow and entered it in March 1610.
Dovator Lev Mikhailovich
Soviet military leader, major general, Hero of the Soviet Union. Known for successful operations to destroy German troops during the Great Patriotic War. The German command appointed a large reward for the head of Dovator.
Together with the 8th Guards Division named after Major General I.V. Panfilov, the 1st Guards Tank Brigade of General M.E. Katukov and other troops of the 16th Army, his corps defended the approaches to Moscow in the Volokolamsk direction.
Rumyantsev-Zadunaisky Pyotr Alexandrovich
Monomakh Vladimir Vsevolodovich
Kuznetsov Nikolai Gerasimovich
He made a great contribution to the strengthening of the fleet before the war; conducted a number of major exercises, became the initiator of the opening of new maritime schools and maritime special schools (later Nakhimov schools). On the eve of Germany's sudden attack on the USSR, he took effective measures to increase the combat readiness of the fleets, and on the night of June 22 he gave the order to bring them to full combat readiness, which made it possible to avoid the loss of ships and naval aviation.
Rurikovich Yaroslav the Wise Vladimirovich
He devoted his life to defending the Fatherland. Defeated the Pechenegs. He established the Russian state as one of the greatest states of his time.
Stessel Anatoly Mikhailovich
Commandant of Port Arthur during his heroic defense. The unprecedented ratio of losses of Russian and Japanese troops before the surrender of the fortress is 1:10.
Prophetic Oleg
Your shield is on the gates of Tsaregrad.
A.S. Pushkin.
Govorov Leonid Alexandrovich
Belov Pavel Alekseevich
He led the cavalry corps during the Second World War. It proved to be excellent during the Battle of Moscow, especially in defensive battles near Tula. He especially distinguished himself in the Rzhev-Vyazemsky operation, where he left the encirclement after 5 months of stubborn fighting.
Kazarsky Alexander Ivanovich
Captain Lieutenant. Member of the Russian-Turkish war of 1828-29. He distinguished himself in the capture of Anapa, then Varna, commanding the Rival transport. After that, he was promoted to lieutenant commander and appointed captain of the Mercury brig. On May 14, 1829, the 18-gun brig "Mercury" was overtaken by two Turkish battleships "Selimiye" and "Real Bey". Having accepted an unequal battle, the brig was able to immobilize both Turkish flagships, one of which was the commander of the Ottoman fleet himself. Subsequently, an officer from the Real Bey wrote: “In the continuation of the battle, the commander of the Russian frigate (the infamous Raphael, which surrendered without a fight a few days earlier) told me that the captain of this brig would not give up, and if he lost hope, then he would blow up the brig If in the great deeds of ancient and our times there are feats of courage, then this act should overshadow all of them, and the name of this hero is worthy to be inscribed in gold letters on the temple of Glory: he is called Lieutenant Commander Kazarsky, and the brig is "Mercury"
Alexander Mikhailovich Vasilevsky (September 18 (30), 1895 - December 5, 1977) - Soviet military leader, Marshal of the Soviet Union (1943), Chief of the General Staff, member of the Stavka Supreme High Command. During the Great Patriotic War, as Chief of the General Staff (1942-1945), he took an active part in the development and implementation of almost all major operations on the Soviet-German front. From February 1945 he commanded the 3rd Belorussian Front, led the assault on Königsberg. In 1945, he was commander-in-chief of the Soviet troops in the Far East in the war with Japan. One of the greatest commanders of World War II.
In 1949-1953 - Minister of the Armed Forces and Minister of War of the USSR. Twice Hero of the Soviet Union (1944, 1945), holder of two Orders of Victory (1944, 1945).
Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich
He was the Supreme Commander during the Great Patriotic War, in which our country won, and made all strategic decisions.
Romanov Petr Alekseevich
Behind the endless discussions about Peter I as a politician and reformer, it is unfairly forgotten that he was the greatest commander of his time. He was not only an excellent rear organizer. In the two most important battles of the Northern War (the battles of Lesnaya and Poltava), he not only developed battle plans himself, but also personally led the troops, being in the most important, responsible areas.
The only commander I know of was equally talented in both land and sea battles.
The main thing is that Peter I created a national military school. If all the great commanders of Russia are the heirs of Suvorov, then Suvorov himself is the heir of Peter.
The Battle of Poltava was one of the greatest (if not the greatest) victory in national history. In all other great predatory invasions of Russia, the general battle did not have a decisive outcome, and the struggle dragged on, went to exhaustion. And only in the Northern War did the general battle radically change the state of affairs, and from the attacking side the Swedes became the defender, decisively losing the initiative.
I think that Peter I deserves to be in the top three in the list of the best commanders of Russia.
Pokryshkin Alexander Ivanovich
Air Marshal of the USSR, the first three times Hero of the Soviet Union, a symbol of victory over the Nazi Wehrmacht in the air, one of the most successful fighter pilots of the Great Patriotic War (WWII).
Participating in air battles of the Great Patriotic War, he developed and "tested" in battles a new tactic of air combat, which made it possible to seize the initiative in the air and eventually defeat the fascist Luftwaffe. In fact, he created a whole school of aces of the Second World War. Commanding the 9th Guards Air Division, he continued to personally participate in air battles, scoring 65 air victories over the entire period of the war.
Kolchak Alexander Vasilievich
Prominent military leader, scientist, traveler and discoverer. Admiral of the Russian Fleet, whose talent was highly appreciated by Sovereign Nicholas II. The Supreme Ruler of Russia during the Civil War, a real Patriot of his Fatherland, a man of tragic, interesting fate. One of those military men who tried to save Russia during the years of unrest, in the most difficult conditions, being in very difficult international diplomatic conditions.
Paskevich Ivan Fyodorovich
Hero of Borodin, Leipzig, Paris (division commander)
As commander in chief, he won 4 companies (Russian-Persian 1826-1828, Russian-Turkish 1828-1829, Polish 1830-1831, Hungarian 1849).
Knight of the Order of St. George 1st class - for the capture of Warsaw (according to the statute, the order was awarded either for saving the fatherland or for taking the enemy capital).
Field Marshal.
Romanov Mikhail Timofeevich
The heroic defense of Mogilev, for the first time all-round anti-tank defense of the city.
Ushakov Fedor Fedorovich
A man whose faith, courage, and patriotism defended our state
Kornilov Lavr Georgievich
KORNILOV Lavr Georgievich (08.18.1870-04.31.1918) Colonel (02.1905). Major General (12.1912). Lieutenant General (08.26.1914). Infantry General (06.30.1917). with a gold medal from the Nikolaev Academy of the General Staff (1898). Officer at the headquarters of the Turkestan Military District, 1889-1904. Participant in the Russian-Japanese war of 1904 - 1905: headquarters officer of the 1st rifle brigade (at its headquarters). When retreating from Mukden, the brigade got surrounded. Having led the rearguard, he broke through the encirclement with a bayonet attack, ensuring the freedom of defensive combat operations of the brigade. Military attache in China, 04/01/1907 - 02/24/1911. Participant in the First World War: commander of the 48th Infantry Division of the 8th Army (General Brusilov). During the general retreat, the 48th division was surrounded and General Kornilov, who was wounded on 04.1915, was captured near the Duklinsky Pass (Carpathians); 08.1914-04.1915. Captured by the Austrians, 04.1915-06.1916. Having changed into the uniform of an Austrian soldier, he escaped from captivity on 06.1915. Commander of the 25th Rifle Corps, 06.1916-04.1917. Commander of the Petrograd Military District, 03-04.1917. Commander of the 8th Army, 04.24-07.08.1917. On 05/19/1917, by his order, he introduced the formation of the first volunteer "1st Shock Detachment of the 8th Army" under the command of Captain Nezhentsev. Commander of the Southwestern Front...
Nakhimov Pavel Stepanovich
Kolchak Alexander Vasilievich
A person who combines the totality of knowledge of a naturalist, scientist and great strategist.
Rumyantsev Petr Alexandrovich
Russian military and statesman, during the entire reign of Catherine II (1761-96) who ruled Little Russia. During the Seven Years' War he commanded the capture of Kolberg. For the victories over the Turks at Larga, Kagul and others, which led to the conclusion of the Kyuchuk-Kainarji peace, he was awarded the title of "Transdanubian". In 1770 he received the rank of Field Marshal. Cavalier of the orders of the Russian St. Andrew the Apostle, St. Alexander Nevsky, St. George 1st class and St. Vladimir I degree, the Prussian Black Eagle and St. Anna I degree
Zhukov Georgy Konstantinovich
Successfully commanded the Soviet troops during the Great Patriotic War. Among other things, he stopped the Germans near Moscow, took Berlin.
Saltykov Petr Semenovich
One of those commanders who managed to exemplary defeat one of the best commanders of Europe in the 18th century - Frederick II of Prussia
Udatny Mstislav Mstislavovich
A real knight, recognized as a fair commander in Europe
Karyagin Pavel Mikhailovich
Colonel, Chief of the 17th Jaeger Regiment. He showed himself most clearly in the Persian Company of 1805; when, with a detachment of 500 people, surrounded by a 20,000-strong Persian army, he resisted it for three weeks, not only repulsing the attacks of the Persians with honor, but taking fortresses himself, and finally, with a detachment of 100 people, made his way to Tsitsianov, who was going to help him.
Skopin-Shuisky Mikhail Vasilievich
In the conditions of the decomposition of the Russian state during the Time of Troubles, with minimal material and human resources, he created an army that defeated the Polish-Lithuanian interventionists and liberated most of the Russian state.
Yudenich Nikolai Nikolaevich
The best Russian commander during the First World War. An ardent patriot of his Motherland.
There are no outstanding military figures of the period from the Troubles to the Northern War on the project, although there were such. An example of this is G.G. Romodanovsky.
Descended from the family of Starodub princes.
Member of the sovereign's campaign against Smolensk in 1654. In September 1655, together with the Ukrainian Cossacks, he defeated the Poles near Gorodok (not far from Lvov), in November of the same year he fought in the battle of Ozernaya. In 1656 he received the rank of roundabout and headed the Belgorod category. In 1658 and 1659 participated in hostilities against the betrayed hetman Vyhovsky and Crimean Tatars, besieged Varva and fought near Konotop (Romodanovsky's troops withstood a heavy battle at the crossing over the Kukolka River). In 1664, he played a decisive role in repelling the invasion of 70 thousand army of the Polish king on the Left-Bank Ukraine, inflicted a number of sensitive blows on it. In 1665 he was granted a boyar. In 1670, he acted against the Razintsy - he defeated the detachment of the ataman's brother, Frol. The crown of Romodanovsky's military activity is the war with the Ottoman Empire. In 1677 and 1678 troops under his leadership inflicted heavy defeats on the Ottomans. An interesting moment: both main defendants in the battle of Vienna in 1683 were defeated by G.G. Romodanovsky: Sobessky with his king in 1664 and Kara Mustafa in 1678
The prince died on May 15, 1682 during the Streltsy uprising in Moscow.
Field Marshal Ivan Gudovich
The assault on the Turkish fortress of Anapa on June 22, 1791. In terms of complexity and importance, it is only inferior to the assault on Izmail by A.V. Suvorov.
A 7,000-strong Russian detachment stormed Anapa, which was defended by a 25,000-strong Turkish garrison. At the same time, shortly after the start of the assault, 8,000 mounted mountaineers and Turks attacked the Russian detachment from the mountains, who attacked the Russian camp, but could not break into it, were repulsed in a fierce battle and pursued by Russian cavalry.
The fierce battle for the fortress lasted over 5 hours. Of the Anapa garrison, about 8,000 people died, 13,532 defenders were taken prisoner, led by the commandant and Sheikh Mansur. A small part (about 150 people) escaped on ships. Almost all artillery was captured or destroyed (83 cannons and 12 mortars), 130 banners were taken. To the nearby fortress of Sudzhuk-Kale (on the site of modern Novorossiysk), Gudovich sent a separate detachment from Anapa, but when he approached, the garrison burned the fortress and fled to the mountains, leaving 25 guns.
The losses of the Russian detachment were very high - 23 officers and 1,215 privates were killed, 71 officers and 2,401 privates were wounded (slightly lower data are indicated in Sytin's Military Encyclopedia - 940 killed and 1,995 wounded). Gudovich was awarded the Order of St. George of the 2nd degree, all the officers of his detachment were awarded, a special medal was established for the lower ranks.
Kappel Vladimir Oskarovich
Without exaggeration - the best commander of the army of Admiral Kolchak. Under his command, in 1918, Russia's gold reserves were captured in Kazan. At the age of 36 - lieutenant general, commander of the Eastern Front. Siberian is associated with this name. ice hike. In January 1920, he led 30,000 "Kappelevites" to Irkutsk to capture Irkutsk and release the Supreme Ruler of Russia, Admiral Kolchak, from captivity. The death of the general from pneumonia largely determined the tragic outcome of this campaign and the death of the Admiral ...
Dubynin Viktor Petrovich
From April 30, 1986 to June 1, 1987 - Commander of the 40th Combined Arms Army of the Turkestan Military District. The troops of this army made up the bulk of the Limited Contingent of Soviet Troops in Afghanistan. During the year of his command of the army, the number of irretrievable losses decreased by 2 times in comparison with 1984-1985.
On June 10, 1992, Colonel-General V.P. Dubynin was appointed Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces - First Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation
His merits include keeping the President of the Russian Federation B. N. Yeltsin from a number of ill-conceived decisions in the military sphere, primarily in the field of nuclear forces.
Margelov Vasily Filippovich
Creator of the modern Airborne Forces. When for the first time the BMD parachuted with the crew, the commander in it was his son. In my opinion, this fact speaks of such a remarkable person as V.F. Margelov, everyone. About his devotion to the Airborne Forces!
Antonov Alexey Inokent'evich
Chief strategist of the USSR in 1943-45, practically unknown to society
"Kutuzov" World War II
Humble and dedicated. Victorious. The author of all operations since the spring of 1943 and the victory itself. Others gained fame - Stalin and the commanders of the fronts.
Gurko Joseph Vladimirovich
Field Marshal General (1828-1901) Hero of Shipka and Plevna, Liberator of Bulgaria (a street in Sofia was named after him, a monument was erected). In 1877 he commanded the 2nd Guards cavalry division. To quickly capture some of the passes through the Balkans, Gurko led an advance detachment, composed of four cavalry regiments, an infantry brigade and a newly formed Bulgarian militia, with two batteries of horse artillery. Gurko completed his task quickly and boldly, won a series of victories over the Turks, ending with the capture of Kazanlak and Shipka. During the struggle for Plevna, Gurko, at the head of the troops of the guard and cavalry of the western detachment, defeated the Turks near Gorny Dubnyak and Telish, then again went to the Balkans, occupied Entropol and Orkhanie, and after the fall of Plevna, reinforced by the IX Corps and the 3rd Guards Infantry Division , despite the terrible cold, he crossed the Balkan Range, took Philippopolis and occupied Adrianople, opening the way to Constantinople. At the end of the war, he commanded military districts, was a governor-general, and a member of the state council. Buried in Tver (settlement Sakharovo)
Rurikovich Svyatoslav Igorevich
The great commander of the ancient Russian period. The first known to us Kyiv prince having a Slavic name. The last pagan ruler of the Old Russian state. He glorified Russia as a great military power in the campaigns of 965-971. Karamzin called him "Alexander (Macedonian) of our ancient history". The prince freed the Slavic tribes from vassalage from the Khazars, defeating the Khazar Khaganate in 965. According to the Tale of Bygone Years, in 970, during the Russian-Byzantine war, Svyatoslav managed to win the battle of Arcadiopol, having 10,000 soldiers under his command, against 100,000 Greeks. But at the same time, Svyatoslav led the life of a simple warrior: “On campaigns, he didn’t carry carts or cauldrons with him, he didn’t cook meat, but, thinly slicing horse meat, or beast, or beef and roasting it on coals, he ate like that; he didn’t have a tent , but slept, spreading a sweatshirt with a saddle in their heads - the same were all the rest of his warriors... And sent to other lands [envoys, as a rule, before declaring war] with the words: "I'm going to you!" (According to PVL)
Kotlyarevsky Petr Stepanovich
General Kotlyarevsky, son of a priest in the village of Olkhovatka, Kharkov province. He went from private to general in the tsarist army. He can be called the great-grandfather of the Russian special forces. He carried out truly unique operations ... His name is worthy of being included in the list of the greatest commanders of Russia
Baklanov Yakov Petrovich
An outstanding strategist and a mighty warrior, he earned respect and fear of his name from the invincible highlanders who forgot the iron grip of the "Thunderstorm of the Caucasus". At the moment - Yakov Petrovich, a model of the spiritual strength of a Russian soldier in front of the proud Caucasus. His talent crushed the enemy and minimized the time frame of the Caucasian War, for which he received the nickname "Boklu" akin to the devil for his fearlessness.
Golovanov Alexander Evgenievich
He is the creator of the Soviet long-range aviation (ADD).
Units under the command of Golovanov bombed Berlin, Koenigsberg, Danzig and other cities in Germany, attacked important strategic targets behind enemy lines.
Nakhimov Pavel Stepanovich
Successes in the Crimean War of 1853-56, victory in the Battle of Sinop in 1853, defense of Sevastopol in 1854-55.
Kutuzov Mikhail Illarionovich
After Zhukov, who took Berlin, the brilliant strategist Kutuzov, who drove the French out of Russia, should be second.
Dolgorukov Yury Alekseevich
An outstanding statesman and military leader of the era of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, prince. Commanding the Russian army in Lithuania, in 1658 he defeated hetman V. Gonsevsky in the battle of Verki, taking him prisoner. This was the first time after 1500 when a Russian governor captured the hetman. In 1660, at the head of an army sent under Mogilev, besieged by the Polish-Lithuanian troops, he won a strategic victory over the enemy on the Basya River near the village of Gubarevo, forcing hetmans P. Sapieha and S. Czarnetsky to retreat from the city. Thanks to the actions of Dolgorukov, the "front line" in Belarus along the Dnieper was preserved until the end of the war of 1654-1667. In 1670, he led an army sent to fight against the Cossacks of Stenka Razin, in the shortest possible time suppressed the Cossack rebellion, which later led to the Don Cossacks swearing allegiance to the tsar and the transformation of the Cossacks from robbers into "sovereign servants".
Zhukov Georgy Konstantinovich
He made the greatest contribution as a strategist to the victory in the Great Patriotic War (it is also the Second World War).
Minikh Khristofor Antonovich
Due to the ambiguous attitude to the period of the reign of Anna Ioannovna, the largely underestimated commander, who was the commander-in-chief of the Russian troops throughout her reign.
Commander of the Russian troops during the War of the Polish Succession and architect of the victory of Russian arms in the Russo-Turkish War of 1735-1739.
Paskevich Ivan Fyodorovich
The armies under his command defeated Persia in the war of 1826-1828 and completely defeated the Turkish troops in Transcaucasia in the war of 1828-1829.
Awarded all 4 degrees of the Order of St. George and the Order of St. Apostle Andrew the First-Called with diamonds.
Rokossovsky Konstantin Konstantinovich
Chernyakhovsky Ivan Danilovich
The only one of the commanders, who on 06/22/1941 carried out the order of the Stavka, counterattacked the Germans, threw them back in his sector and went on the offensive.
Denikin Anton Ivanovich
Russian military leader, political and public figure, writer, memoirist, publicist and military documentary.
Participant Russo-Japanese War. One of the most productive generals of the Russian Imperial Army during the First World War. Commander of the 4th Rifle "Iron" Brigade (1914-1916, since 1915 - deployed under his command into a division), 8th Army Corps (1916-1917). Lieutenant General of the General Staff (1916), commander of the Western and Southwestern fronts(1917). An active participant in the military congresses of 1917, an opponent of the democratization of the army. He expressed support for the Kornilov speech, for which he was arrested by the Provisional Government, a member of the Berdichevsky and Bykhov sittings of generals (1917).
One of the main leaders white movement during the Civil War, its leader in the South of Russia (1918-1920). He achieved the greatest military and political results among all the leaders of the White movement. Pioneer, one of the main organizers, and then commander of the Volunteer Army (1918-1919). Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the South of Russia (1919-1920), Deputy Supreme Ruler and Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Army, Admiral Kolchak (1919-1920).
Since April 1920 - an emigrant, one of the main political figures of the Russian emigration. The author of the memoirs "Essays on Russian Troubles" (1921-1926) - a fundamental historical and biographical work about the Civil War in Russia, memoirs " old army"(1929-1931), the autobiographical story "The Way of the Russian Officer" (published in 1953) and a number of other works.
Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich
The largest figure in world history, whose life and state activity left the deepest mark not only in the fate of the Soviet people, but also of all mankind, will be the subject of careful study of historians for more than one century. The historical and biographical feature of this personality is that it will never be forgotten.
During Stalin's tenure as Supreme Commander-in-Chief and Chairman of the State Defense Committee, our country was marked by victory in the Great Patriotic War, massive labor and front-line heroism, the transformation of the USSR into a superpower with significant scientific, military and industrial potential, and the strengthening of our country's geopolitical influence in the world.
Ten Stalinist strikes - the common name for a number of major offensive strategic operations in the Great Patriotic War, carried out in 1944 by the armed forces of the USSR. Along with other offensive operations, they made a decisive contribution to the victory of the countries of the Anti-Hitler coalition over Nazi Germany and its allies in World War II.
Ridiger Fedor Vasilievich
Adjutant general, cavalry general, adjutant general... He had three Golden sabers with the inscription: "For courage"... In 1849, Ridiger participated in a campaign in Hungary to suppress the unrest that arose there, being appointed head of the right column. On May 9, Russian troops entered the borders of the Austrian Empire. He pursued the rebel army until August 1, forcing them to lay down their arms in front of the Russian troops near Vilyaghosh. On August 5, the troops entrusted to him occupied the fortress of Arad. During the trip of Field Marshal Ivan Fedorovich Paskevich to Warsaw, Count Ridiger commanded the troops located in Hungary and Transylvania ... On February 21, 1854, during the absence of Field Marshal Prince Paskevich in the Kingdom of Poland, Count Ridiger commanded all the troops located in the area of the active army - as a commander separate corps and at the same time served as head of the Kingdom of Poland. After the return of Field Marshal Prince Paskevich to Warsaw, from August 3, 1854, he served as the Warsaw military governor.
Barclay de Tolly Mikhail Bogdanovich
Participated in the Russian-Turkish war of 1787-91 and the Russian-Swedish war of 1788-90. He distinguished himself during the war with France in 1806-07 at Preussisch-Eylau, from 1807 he commanded a division. During the Russo-Swedish War of 1808-09 he commanded a corps; led a successful crossing through the Kvarken Strait in the winter of 1809. In 1809-10, the Governor-General of Finland. From January 1810 to September 1812, the Minister of War, did a lot of work to strengthen the Russian army, singled out the intelligence and counterintelligence service into a separate production. In the Patriotic War of 1812 he commanded the 1st Western Army, and he, as Minister of War, was subordinate to the 2nd Western Army. In the conditions of a significant superiority of the enemy, he showed the talent of a commander and successfully carried out the withdrawal and connection of the two armies, which earned such words from M.I. Kutuzov as THANK YOU FATHER !!! SAVE THE ARMY!!! SAVE RUSSIA!!!. However, the retreat caused discontent in the noble circles and the army, and on August 17, Barclay handed over the command of the armies to M.I. Kutuzov. In the Battle of Borodino, he commanded the right wing of the Russian army, showing stamina and skill in defense. He recognized the position near Moscow chosen by L. L. Bennigsen as unsuccessful and supported the proposal of M. I. Kutuzov to leave Moscow at the military council in Fili. In September 1812 he left the army due to illness. In February 1813 he was appointed commander of the 3rd, and then the Russian-Prussian army, which he successfully commanded during the foreign campaigns of the Russian army of 1813-14 (Kulm, Leipzig, Paris). He was buried in the Beklor estate in Livonia (now Jõgeveste Estonia)
Khvorostinin Dmitry Ivanovich
The commander who did not have defeats ...
Slashchev Yakov Alexandrovich
A talented commander who repeatedly showed personal courage in defending the Fatherland in the first world war. He assessed the rejection of the revolution and hostility to the new government as secondary compared to serving the interests of the Motherland.
Katukov Mikhail Efimovich
Perhaps the only bright spot against the background of the Soviet commanders of the armored forces. A tanker who went through the entire war, starting from the border. The commander, whose tanks always showed their superiority to the enemy. His tank brigades were the only (!) in the first period of the war that were not defeated by the Germans and even inflicted significant damage on them.
His First Guards Tank Army remained combat-ready, although it defended from the very first days of the fighting on the southern face of the Kursk Bulge, while exactly the same Rotmistrov's 5th Guards Tank Army was practically destroyed on the very first day it entered the battle (June 12)
This is one of the few of our commanders who took care of his troops and fought not by numbers, but by skill.
Oktyabrsky Philip Sergeevich
Admiral, Hero of the Soviet Union. During the Great Patriotic War, the commander of the Black Sea Fleet. One of the leaders of the Defense of Sevastopol in 1941 - 1942, as well as the Crimean operation of 1944. During the Great Patriotic War, Vice Admiral F.S. Oktyabrsky was one of the leaders of the heroic defense of Odessa and Sevastopol. Being the commander of the Black Sea Fleet, at the same time in 1941-1942 he was the commander of the Sevastopol Defense Region.
Three orders of Lenin
three orders of the Red Banner
two orders of Ushakov 1st degree
Order of Nakhimov 1st class
Order of Suvorov 2nd class
Order of the Red Star
medals
Linevich Nikolai Petrovich
Nikolai Petrovich Linevich (December 24, 1838 - April 10, 1908) - a prominent Russian military leader, infantry general (1903), adjutant general (1905); general who stormed Beijing.
Suvorov Alexander Vasilievich
The great Russian commander, who did not suffer a single defeat in his military career (more than 60 battles), one of the founders of Russian military art.
Prince of Italy (1799), Count of Rymnik (1789), Count of the Holy Roman Empire, Generalissimo of the Russian land and sea forces, Field Marshal of the Austrian and Sardinian troops, grandee of the Sardinian kingdom and prince of royal blood (with the title "king's cousin"), knight of all Russian orders of their time, awarded to men, as well as many foreign military orders.
Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich
Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of the USSR during the Great Patriotic War. Under his leadership, the Red Army crushed fascism.
Most Serene Prince Wittgenstein Peter KhristianovichFor the defeat of the French units of Oudinot and MacDonald at Klyastits, thereby closing the road for the French army to St. Petersburg in 1812. Then in October 1812 he defeated the Saint-Cyr corps at Polotsk. He was the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian-Prussian armies in April-May 1813.
Skobelev Mikhail Dmitrievich
A man of great courage, a great tactician, organizer. M.D. Skobelev possessed strategic thinking, saw the situation, both in real time and in perspective
Rurikovich (Grozny) Ivan Vasilyevich
In the variety of perceptions of Ivan the Terrible, they often forget about his unconditional talent and achievements as a commander. He personally led the capture of Kazan and organized military reform, leading a country that simultaneously waged 2-3 wars on different fronts.
Yudenich Nikolai Nikolaevich
October 3, 2013 marks the 80th anniversary of the death in the French city of Cannes of a Russian military figure, commander Caucasian Front, the hero of Mukden, Sarykamysh, Van, Erzurum (due to the complete defeat of the 90,000th Turkish army, Russia retreated Constantinople and the Bosphorus with the Dardanelles), savior Armenian people from the complete Turkish genocide, the holder of the three orders of George and the highest order of France, the Grand Cross of the Order of the Legion of Honor, General Nikolai Nikolayevich Yudenich.
Makarov Stepan Osipovich
Russian oceanographer, polar explorer, shipbuilder, vice admiral. Developed the Russian semaphore alphabet. A worthy person, on the list of worthy ones!
Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich
He was the Supreme Commander of the USSR during the Great Patriotic War! Under his leadership, the USSR won the Great Victory during the Great Patriotic War!
Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich
Chairman of the GKO, Supreme Commander of the USSR Armed Forces during the Great Patriotic War.
What other questions might there be?
Dokhturov Dmitry Sergeevich
Defense of Smolensk.
Command of the left flank on the Borodino field after the wounding of Bagration.
Tarutino battle.
Skopin-Shuisky Mikhail Vasilievich
During his short military career, he practically did not know failures, both in battles with the troops of I. Boltnikov, and with the Polish-Liovo and "Tushino" troops. The ability to build a combat-ready army practically from scratch, train, use Swedish mercenaries on the spot and during the time, select successful Russian command personnel to liberate and protect the vast territory of the Russian northwestern region and liberate central Russia, persistent and systematic offensive, skillful tactics in fight against the magnificent Polish-Lithuanian cavalry, undoubted personal courage - these are the qualities that, despite the little-knownness of his deeds, give him the right to be called the Great Commander of Russia.
Vasilevsky Alexander Mikhailovich
The greatest commander of the Second World War. Two people in history were awarded the Order of Victory twice: Vasilevsky and Zhukov, but after the Second World War, it was Vasilevsky who became the Minister of Defense of the USSR. His military genius is unsurpassed by ANY military leader in the world.
Ermak Timofeevich
Russian. Cossack. Ataman. Defeated Kuchum and his satellites. Approved Siberia as part of the Russian state. He devoted his whole life to military work.
Kolchak Alexander Vasilievich
Russian admiral who gave his life for the liberation of the Fatherland.
Scientist-oceanographer, one of the largest polar explorers of the late 19th - early 20th centuries, military and political figure, naval commander, full member of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society, leader of the White Movement, Supreme Ruler of Russia.
Spiridov Grigory Andreevich
Became a sailor under Peter I, participated in the Russian-Turkish war (1735-1739) as an officer, finished the Seven Years' War (1756-1763) as rear admiral. The peak of his naval and diplomatic talent reached during the Russian-Turkish war of 1768-1774. In 1769, he led the first transition of the Russian fleet from the Baltic to the Mediterranean Sea. Despite the difficulties of the transition (among those who died from diseases was the son of the admiral - his grave was recently found on the island of Menorca), he quickly established control over the Greek archipelago. The Chesme battle in June 1770 remained unsurpassed in terms of loss ratio: 11 Russians - 11 thousand Turks! On the island of Paros was equipped naval base Ausa with coastal batteries and its own Admiralty.
The Russian fleet withdrew from the Mediterranean Sea after the conclusion of the Kuchuk-Kainarji peace in July 1774. The Greek islands and the lands of the Levant, including Beirut, were returned to Turkey in exchange for territories in the Black Sea region. Nevertheless, the activities of the Russian fleet in the Archipelago were not in vain and played a significant role in world naval history. Russia, having made a strategic maneuver with the forces of the fleet from one theater to another and having achieved a number of high-profile victories over the enemy, for the first time forced to talk about itself as a strong maritime power and an important player in European politics.
Maximov Evgeny Yakovlevich
Russian hero of the Transvaal War. He was a volunteer in fraternal Serbia, participating in the Russian-Turkish war. At the beginning of the 20th century, the British began to wage war against a small people, the Boers. Japanese war. In addition to his military career, he distinguished himself in the literary field.
Vorotynsky Mikhail Ivanovich
"The compiler of the charter of the watchdog and border service' is, of course, good. For some reason, we have forgotten the battle of YOUTH from July 29 to August 2, 1572. But it was precisely from this victory that Moscow's right to a lot was recognized. The Ottomans were recaptured a lot of things, they were very sobered by the thousands of destroyed Janissaries, and unfortunately they helped Europe with this. The battle of YOUTH is very difficult to overestimate
Romodanovsky Grigory Grigorievich
An outstanding military leader of the 17th century, prince and governor. In 1655, he won his first victory over the Polish hetman S. Pototsky near Gorodok in Galicia. Later, being the commander of the army of the Belgorod category (military administrative district), he played a major role in organizing the defense of the southern border of Russia. In 1662, he won the biggest victory in the Russian-Polish war for Ukraine in the battle of Kanev, defeating the traitorous hetman Y. Khmelnitsky and the Poles who helped him. In 1664, near Voronezh, he forced the famous Polish commander Stefan Czarnecki to flee, forcing the army of King Jan Casimir to retreat. Repeatedly beat the Crimean Tatars. In 1677 he defeated the 100,000th Turkish army of Ibrahim Pasha near Buzhin, in 1678 he defeated the Turkish corps of Kaplan Pasha near Chigirin. Thanks to his military talents, Ukraine did not become another Ottoman province and the Turks did not take Kyiv.
Muravyov-Karssky Nikolai Nikolaevich
One of the most successful commanders of the middle of the 19th century in the Turkish direction.
Hero of the first capture of Kars (1828), leader of the second capture of Kars (the biggest success of the Crimean War, 1855, which made it possible to end the war without territorial losses for Russia).
Shein Mikhail Borisovich
Governor Shein - the hero and leader of the unprecedented defense of Smolensk in 1609-16011. This fortress decided a lot in the fate of Russia!
Suvorov Alexander Vasilievich
The greatest Russian commander! He has over 60 wins and no losses. Thanks to his talent to win, the whole world learned the power of Russian weapons.
Platov Matvei Ivanovich
Military ataman of the Don Cossack army. Started valid military service from the age of 13. A member of several military companies, he is best known as the commander of the Cossack troops during the Patriotic War of 1812 and during the subsequent Foreign Campaign of the Russian Army. Thanks to the successful actions of the Cossacks under his command, Napoleon's saying went down in history:
- Happy is the commander who has Cossacks. If I had an army of Cossacks alone, then I would conquer all of Europe.
Yaroslav the Wise
Yulaev Salavat
The commander of the Pugachev era (1773-1775). Together with Pugachev, having organized an uprising, he tried to change the position of the peasants in society. He won several dinners over the troops of Catherine II.
Shein Mikhail
Hero of the Smolensk Defense 1609-11
He led the Smolensk fortress in the siege for almost 2 years, it was one of the longest siege campaigns in Russian history, which predetermined the defeat of the Poles during the Troubles
Voronov Nikolai Nikolaevich
N.N. Voronov - commander of the artillery of the Armed Forces of the USSR. For outstanding services to the Motherland Voronov N.N. the first in the Soviet Union were awarded the military ranks of "Marshal of Artillery" (1943) and "Chief Marshal of Artillery" (1944).
... carried out the general leadership of the liquidation of the Nazi group surrounded near Stalingrad.
Suvorov Alexander Vasilievich
He is a great commander who did not lose a single (!) Battle, the founder of Russian military affairs, brilliantly fought battles, regardless of its conditions.
Joseph Vladimirovich Gurko (1828-1901)
General, hero of the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878. The Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878, which marked the liberation of the Balkan peoples from the centuries-old Ottoman rule, brought forward a number of talented military leaders. Among them should be mentioned M.D. Skobeleva, M.I. Dragomirova, N.G. Stoletova, F.F. Radetsky, P.P. Kartseva and others. Among these famous names there is one more - Iosif Vladimirovich Gurko, whose name is associated with the victory at Plevna, the heroic transition through the winter Balkans and victories near the banks of the Maritsa River.
Generals of Ancient Russia
Since ancient times. Vladimir Monomakh (fought with the Polovtsy), his sons Mstislav the Great (campaigns against Chud and Lithuania) and Yaropolk (campaigns against the Don), Vsevood the Big Nest (campaigns against the Volga Bulgaria), Mstislav Udatny (battle on Lipitsa), Yaroslav Vsevolodovich (defeated knights of the Order of the Sword), Alexander Nevsky, Dmitry Donskoy, Vladimir the Brave (the second hero of the Mamaev battle) ...
In 1759, Repnin was sent to the allied French army to gain military experience. Returning to St. Petersburg the following year, he moved from the guard, of which he was a captain, to the army with the rank of colonel and again returned to the theater of operations. Participated in the capture of Berlin. In April 1762, Repnin was promoted to the rank of major general.
Catherine II, who ascended the throne in June 1762, sent Repnin as an ambassador to Prussia to Frederick II. While there, he had the opportunity to assess the military potential of the Prussian kingdom and the military talent of the Prussian king, whose admirer he remained all his life.
In 1763, the prince was appointed to the post of director of the land gentry cadet corps, and was soon sent as ambassador to Poland.
With the beginning of the Russian-Turkish war of 1768-1774. Repnin transferred to the active army under the command of Prince Golitsyn. By this time, Repnin was already a lieutenant general. In the campaign of 1770 he is the commander of the advanced corps. Having gathered the corps thinned after the epidemic on the Prut near the Ryaba Mohyla, from the end of May he repulsed the attacks of the Tatar horde of Kaplan Giray, numbering more than 70 thousand horsemen. Baur's cavalry vanguard approached Repnin to help, and by June 16, the main forces, which attacked the Tatars the next day. The enemy retreated to Larga. In the battle near Larga, against 38 thousand Russian troops, there were 65 thousand Tatar cavalry and 15 thousand Turkish infantry. Here, the commander-in-chief of the Russian army, Rumyantsev, used divisional squares, which made it possible for the infantry to conduct more active offensive operations. The divisions of Generals Olitz, Plemyannikov, Bruce, Baur and Repnin swept the Turkish camp in a semicircle and, having beaten off the attack of the Janissaries, went on the counteroffensive, completely defeating the enemy, who lost more than 20 thousand people, 300 banners and 203 guns.
June 27, 1770 Repnin was awarded the Order of St. George 2nd degree. After these victories, Repnin's troops captured Izmail and, leaving a strong garrison there, approached the Kiliya fortress in early August. The Turks set fire to the suburbs, but the Russian gunners managed to install their batteries and begin shelling the city. Twice the prince turned to the commander of the fortress, Osman Pasha, with a proposal to surrender, but the fortress capitulated only by August 18. In Chilia, 68 guns and a large amount of ammunition were captured.
In the campaign of 1771, Repnin was appointed commander of all troops in Wallachia. In the spring and summer, the initiative was given to the Turks, who again brought their army to 160 thousand people. They managed to occupy Western Wallachia and take possession of Zhurzhey for a while, but when moving to Bucharest they were defeated by the corps of General Essen. The Russian garrison left in Zhurzhe in February, led by Hansel, repelled the assault of the 14,000-strong Turkish garrison in May, but then surrendered the fortress to the enemy. Repnin's division, going to the rescue of the besieged garrison, did not have time to approach the fortress. Commander-in-Chief Rumyantsev blamed Repnin for this failure, who submitted a letter of resignation and went abroad.
In 1774, Repnin returned to the army and took part in the development of the terms of the Kyuchuk-Kainarji peace treaty. Peace was signed on 10 July. Under its terms, Turkey recognized the independence of the Crimean Khanate, the annexation to Russia of part of the coast with the fortresses of Azov, Kerch, Yenikale and Kinburn, as well as Kabarda and a number of areas between the Dnieper and Bug rivers. Moldavia and Wallachia received autonomy and passed under the protection of Russia. Rumyantsev, in his report to Catherine II, wrote that Prince Repnin "had full participation in the conclusion of peace." Nikolai Vasilyevich was promoted to General-in-Chief and Lieutenant Colonel of the Life Guards of the Izmailovsky Regiment, and the following year he was appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Turkey.
In 1777–1778 Repnin served as the Smolensk Governor-General. And in 1781 he was granted the adjutant general and appointed Pskov governor general, while retaining the post of governor general of Smolensk. In the next two years, he commanded a reserve corps in Poland and received the Order of St. Vladimir 1st degree for his administrative activities and military distinctions on the day of its establishment and diamond signs for the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called.
With the beginning of a new Russian-Turkish war of 1787-1791. Repnin again in the ranks of the army. In 1788, he participated in the siege and assault of the Ochakov fortress, and the following year, before the arrival of the commander-in-chief, Prince G. A. Potemkin, he commanded Ukrainian army in Moldavia.
In 1791 Potemkin left for St. Petersburg. He was replaced as commander in chief by Repnin. Contrary to instructions, he decided to act offensively and already in April sent detachments of Golitsyn and Kutuzov across the Danube. Repnin himself, with up to 60 thousand soldiers, moved to Galati.
The Russian army crossed the Danube and attacked the Turks on June 28. Repnin's actions were distinguished by decisiveness. The success of the battle was predetermined by a bold attack on the left flank of the detachment under the command of Kutuzov. The Turkish army was defeated and fled to Girsovo.
The defeat forced Turkey to start negotiations and accelerated the conclusion of the Iasi peace treaty. He confirmed the annexation of Crimea and Kuban to Russia. From now on, the new border was established in the south-west along the Dniester River, in the Caucasus it was restored along the Kuban River. Turkey renounced claims to Georgia. The treaty significantly strengthened Russia's position in the Caucasus and the Balkans.
On July 15, 1791 General-in-Chief Repnin was awarded the Order of St. George, 1st class. However, during the days of the celebration of peace with Turkey, Repnin did not receive a field marshal's baton. The Empress only granted him a letter of commendation and for the second time awarded him with diamond signs of the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called, appointing the prince to the secondary position of the Riga and Revel governor-general.
Pavel I, who took the throne in November 1796, promoted Repnin to the rank of field marshal and appointed commander of the Lithuanian division, military governor in Riga, and on the day of the coronation Repnin received 6 thousand souls of peasants, the post of order chancellor and inspector of infantry in Lithuania and Livonia.
In 1798, the emperor sent Repnin to Berlin and Vienna, but his diplomatic mission in Prussia and Austria with the aim of creating an anti-French coalition ended in vain. Frederick William III, who ascended the Prussian throne in 1797, promised Paul I his support, but did not dare to join the anti-French coalition. After this failure, Repnin was dismissed and settled in Moscow, where he lived for about three years and died in 1801.