Mikhail Dmitrievich Gorchakov
Encyclopedia
Prince Mikhail Dmitrievich Gorchakov ' onMouseout='HidePop("94010")' href="/topics/Warsaw">Warsaw
) was a Russian
General of the Artillery from the Gorchakov
family, who commanded the Russian forces in the latter stages of the Crimean War
and later served as a Namestnik of Kingdom of Poland from 1856 until his death.
in 1807 as a cadet of the Leub Guard Artillery battalion. In 1809 in the rank of lieutenant
he took part in the campaigns against Persia.
During the Napoleonic Wars
he distinguished himself at Borodino
(received the Order of St. Vladimir
of 4th degree) and at Bautzen
(received the Order of St. Anna
of 2nd degree, the Prussia
n Order Pour le Mérite
and the rank of staff-captain). His career quickly developed and in 1824 he was a Major General
. Gorchakov demonstrated bravery during the Russo-Turkish War of 1828–1829, on 29 May 1829 he was one of the first to swim across the Danube
. He was present at the sieges of Silistria and Shumna.
After being appointed, on 6 December 1829 a general officer
, after 7 February 1831 Gorchakov replaced wounded General Ivan Sukhozanet as the head of the artillery of the Acting Army. Later he was present in the campaign in Poland
, and was wounded at the Battle of Olszynka Grochowska
, on February 25, 1831. He also distinguished himself at the Battle of Ostrołęka and at the taking of Warsaw
.
During the next years he served under Field Marshal
Paskevich
as the head of the Staff of the Acting Army. For these services he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general and numerous supreme Russian and foreign awards.
In 1846 he was nominated military governor of Warsaw. In 1849 he commanded the Russian artillery in the war against the Hungarians, and in 1852 he visited London
as a representative of the Russian army at the funeral of the duke of Wellington
. At this time he was chief of the staff of the Russian army and adjutant general
to the tsar.
Upon Russia declaring war
against Turkey
in 1853, he was appointed commander-in-chief
of the troops which occupied Moldavia
and Wallachia
. In 1854 he crossed the Danube
and besieged Silistra
, but was superseded in April by Prince Ivan Paskevich
, who, however, resigned on June 8, when Gorchakov resumed the command. In July the siege of Silistra
was aborted due to Austrian diplomatic pressure, and the Russian armies recrossed the Danube; in August they withdrew to Russia.
In 1855 Gorchakov was appointed commander-in-chief of the Russian forces in the Crimea in place of the disgraced Prince Menshikov. Gorchakov's defence of Sevastopol
, and final retreat to the northern part of the town, which he continued to defend till peace
was signed in Paris
, were conducted with lack of energy. In 1856 he was appointed namestnik of Kingdom of Poland in succession to Prince Paskevich. He died at Warsaw on May 30, 1861, and was buried, in accordance with his own wish, at Sevastopol
.
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
) was a Russian
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
General of the Artillery from the Gorchakov
Gorchakov
Gorchakov, or Gortchakoff , is a Russian princely family of Rurikid stock, descended from the Rurikid sovereigns of Peremyshl, Russia.-Aleksey Gorchakov:The family first achieved prominence during the reign of Catherine II...
family, who commanded the Russian forces in the latter stages of the Crimean War
Crimean War
The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...
and later served as a Namestnik of Kingdom of Poland from 1856 until his death.
Biography
Mikhail and his brother Pyotr Gorchakovs were the children of a notable writer Prince Dmitri Petrovich Gorchakov and his wife Natalie Boborykina. Mikhail entered the Russian armyImperial Russian Army
The Imperial Russian Army was the land armed force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian army consisted of around 938,731 regular soldiers and 245,850 irregulars . Until the time of military reform of Dmitry Milyutin in...
in 1807 as a cadet of the Leub Guard Artillery battalion. In 1809 in the rank of lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
he took part in the campaigns against Persia.
During the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
he distinguished himself at Borodino
Battle of Borodino
The Battle of Borodino , fought on September 7, 1812, was the largest and bloodiest single-day action of the French invasion of Russia and all Napoleonic Wars, involving more than 250,000 troops and resulting in at least 70,000 casualties...
(received the Order of St. Vladimir
Order of St. Vladimir
The Cross of Saint Vladimir was an Imperial Russian Order established in 1782 by Empress Catherine II in memory of the deeds of Saint Vladimir, the Grand Prince and the Baptizer of the Kievan Rus....
of 4th degree) and at Bautzen
Battle of Bautzen
In the Battle of Bautzen a combined Russian/Prussian army was pushed back by Napoleon, but escaped destruction, some sources claim, because Michel Ney failed to block their retreat...
(received the Order of St. Anna
Order of St. Anna
The Order of St. Anna ) is a Holstein and then Russian Imperial order of chivalry established by Karl Friedrich, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp on 14 February 1735, in honour of his wife Anna Petrovna, daughter of Peter the Great of Russia...
of 2nd degree, the Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
n Order Pour le Mérite
Pour le Mérite
The Pour le Mérite, known informally as the Blue Max , was the Kingdom of Prussia's highest military order for German soldiers until the end of World War I....
and the rank of staff-captain). His career quickly developed and in 1824 he was a Major General
Major General
Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...
. Gorchakov demonstrated bravery during the Russo-Turkish War of 1828–1829, on 29 May 1829 he was one of the first to swim across the Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
. He was present at the sieges of Silistria and Shumna.
After being appointed, on 6 December 1829 a general officer
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
, after 7 February 1831 Gorchakov replaced wounded General Ivan Sukhozanet as the head of the artillery of the Acting Army. Later he was present in the campaign in Poland
November Uprising
The November Uprising , Polish–Russian War 1830–31 also known as the Cadet Revolution, was an armed rebellion in the heartland of partitioned Poland against the Russian Empire. The uprising began on 29 November 1830 in Warsaw when the young Polish officers from the local Army of the Congress...
, and was wounded at the Battle of Olszynka Grochowska
Battle of Olszynka Grochowska
Battle of Olszynka Grochowska was the largest battle of the November Uprising and biggest friction in Europe since the battle of Waterloo. It was fought between the armies of Poland and Russia on February 25 in the woods near Grochów, at the eastern outskirts of Warsaw.- Before the battle :The...
, on February 25, 1831. He also distinguished himself at the Battle of Ostrołęka and at the taking of Warsaw
Battle of Warsaw (1831)
The Battle of Warsaw was fought in September 1831 between Imperial Russia and Poland. The Russians were led by Ivan Paskevich, while the Polish were led by Jan Krukowiecki. The Russians captured the Polish capital, Warsaw, crushing the November Uprising, which had begun in late 1830....
.
During the next years he served under Field Marshal
Field Marshal
Field Marshal is a military rank. Traditionally, it is the highest military rank in an army.-Etymology:The origin of the rank of field marshal dates to the early Middle Ages, originally meaning the keeper of the king's horses , from the time of the early Frankish kings.-Usage and hierarchical...
Paskevich
Ivan Paskevich
Ivan Fyodorovich Paskevich was a Ukrainian-born military leader. For his victories, he was made Count of Erivan in 1828 and Namestnik of the Kingdom of Poland in 1831...
as the head of the Staff of the Acting Army. For these services he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general and numerous supreme Russian and foreign awards.
In 1846 he was nominated military governor of Warsaw. In 1849 he commanded the Russian artillery in the war against the Hungarians, and in 1852 he visited London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
as a representative of the Russian army at the funeral of the duke of Wellington
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Irish-born British soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century...
. At this time he was chief of the staff of the Russian army and adjutant general
Adjutant general
An Adjutant General is a military chief administrative officer.-Imperial Russia:In Imperial Russia, the General-Adjutant was a Court officer, who was usually an army general. He served as a personal aide to the Tsar and hence was a member of the H. I. M. Retinue...
to the tsar.
Upon Russia declaring war
Declaration of war
A declaration of war is a formal act by which one nation goes to war against another. The declaration is a performative speech act by an authorized party of a national government in order to create a state of war between two or more states.The legality of who is competent to declare war varies...
against Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
in 1853, he was appointed commander-in-chief
Commander-in-Chief
A commander-in-chief is the commander of a nation's military forces or significant element of those forces. In the latter case, the force element may be defined as those forces within a particular region or those forces which are associated by function. As a practical term it refers to the military...
of the troops which occupied Moldavia
Moldavia
Moldavia is a geographic and historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester river...
and Wallachia
Wallachia
Wallachia or Walachia is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians...
. In 1854 he crossed the Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
and besieged Silistra
Silistra
Silistra is a port city of northeastern Bulgaria, lying on the southern bank of the lower Danube at the country's border with Romania. Silistra is the administrative centre of Silistra Province and one of the important cities of the historical region of Southern Dobrudzha...
, but was superseded in April by Prince Ivan Paskevich
Ivan Paskevich
Ivan Fyodorovich Paskevich was a Ukrainian-born military leader. For his victories, he was made Count of Erivan in 1828 and Namestnik of the Kingdom of Poland in 1831...
, who, however, resigned on June 8, when Gorchakov resumed the command. In July the siege of Silistra
Siege of Silistra
The Siege of Silistra took place during the Crimean War. in this action Russian forces besieged the Ottoman fortress town of Silistra. While initially successful, the Russians were forced, after several weeks, to abandon the siege and retreat.-Background:...
was aborted due to Austrian diplomatic pressure, and the Russian armies recrossed the Danube; in August they withdrew to Russia.
In 1855 Gorchakov was appointed commander-in-chief of the Russian forces in the Crimea in place of the disgraced Prince Menshikov. Gorchakov's defence of Sevastopol
Sevastopol
Sevastopol is a city on rights of administrative division of Ukraine, located on the Black Sea coast of the Crimea peninsula. It has a population of 342,451 . Sevastopol is the second largest port in Ukraine, after the Port of Odessa....
, and final retreat to the northern part of the town, which he continued to defend till peace
Treaty of Paris (1856)
The Treaty of Paris of 1856 settled the Crimean War between Russia and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the British Empire, Second French Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The treaty, signed on March 30, 1856 at the Congress of Paris, made the Black Sea neutral territory, closing it to all...
was signed in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, were conducted with lack of energy. In 1856 he was appointed namestnik of Kingdom of Poland in succession to Prince Paskevich. He died at Warsaw on May 30, 1861, and was buried, in accordance with his own wish, at Sevastopol
Sevastopol
Sevastopol is a city on rights of administrative division of Ukraine, located on the Black Sea coast of the Crimea peninsula. It has a population of 342,451 . Sevastopol is the second largest port in Ukraine, after the Port of Odessa....
.