Aleksandr Samoilovich Figner (Alexandre Figner, ) (1787–1813) was a Guards colonel of the army of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

, known as the organizer of

partisan Partisan(s) or The Partisan(s) may refer to: Military * Partisan (military), paramilitary forces engaged behind the front line ** Francs-tireurs et partisans, communist-led French anti-fascist resistance against Nazi Germany during WWII ** Ital ...

units during the 1812 Napoleonic invasion of Russia and later of Germany. After the Russian army left Moscow after the

battle of Borodino The Battle of Borodino ( ) or Battle of Moscow (), in popular literature also known as the Battle of the Generals, took place on the outskirts of Moscow near the village of Borodino on 7 September 1812 during Napoleon's invasion of Russia. ...

, he received permission to act independently as a partisan. He entered the city and committed sabotage there. According to some stories, he even planned to kill

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

. After that, he gathered a detachment of lagging soldiers and deserters and began to attack the retreating units of the

Grande Armée The (; ) was the primary field army of the French Imperial Army (1804–1815), French Imperial Army during the Napoleonic Wars. Commanded by Napoleon, from 1804 to 1808 it won a series of military victories that allowed the First French Empi ...

. His detachment became a notable force and participated in the capture of the General

Augereau Augereau is a French surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Antoine Augereau (1485–1534), French type designer and printer * Charles-Pierre Augereau (1757–1816), French military officer * Fernand Augereau (1882–1958), French cy ...

brigade near Lyakhovo. Figner managed to create a resounding glory for himself, becoming the most famous partisan leader at that time. He was distinguished by a passion for dressing up for reconnaissance among enemy units. During the

War of the Sixth Coalition In the War of the Sixth Coalition () (December 1812 – May 1814), sometimes known in Germany as the Wars of Liberation (), a coalition of Austrian Empire, Austria, Kingdom of Prussia, Prussia, Russian Empire, Russia, History of Spain (1808– ...

, he was sent to Danzig for espionage and agitation among the local population. He was distinguished by cruelty towards captured French, unusual even among the partisans of that time. Another famous partisan,

Denis Davydov Denis Vasilyevich Davydov (, ; – ) was a Russian soldier-poet of the Napoleonic Wars who invented the genre of hussar poetry, characterised by hedonism and bravado. He used events from his own life to illustrate such poetry. He suggested and ...

, severely criticized him for this. Figner often gave prisoners to the peasants for laceration and liked to kill prisoners himself with his favorite

air gun An air gun or airgun is a gun that uses energy from compressed air or other gases that are mechanically pressurized and then released to propel and accelerate projectiles, similar to the principle of the primitive blowgun. This is in contr ...

. But he tried to use captured Spaniards and Italians for his own purposes. During the

Truce of Pläswitz The Truce or Armistice of Pläswitz was a nine-week armistice during the Napoleonic Wars, agreed between Napoleon I of France and the Allies on 4 June 1813 (the same day as the Battle of Luckau was being fought elsewhere). It was proposed by Metter ...

he formed from them the so-called "Vengeful Legion" with the help of which he hoped to overthrow the

king of Italy King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a constitutional monarch if his power is restrained by ...

Westphalia Westphalia (; ; ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the region is almost identical with the h ...

. After the retreating of the main forces he tried to wage his own war in Westphalia (he hoped to provoke an uprising of the local population against the French). But he was defeated, and the units recruited from the prisoners showed themselves poorly. He came to his death swimming over the

Elbe The Elbe ( ; ; or ''Elv''; Upper Sorbian, Upper and , ) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Republic), then Ge ...

, while trying to break an encirclement by Napoleonic troops at

Dessau Dessau is a district of the independent city of Dessau-Roßlau in Saxony-Anhalt at the confluence of the rivers Mulde and Elbe, in the ''States of Germany, Bundesland'' (Federal State) of Saxony-Anhalt. Until 1 July 2007, it was an independent ...

. It is believed that he could be one of the prototypes of Fedor Dolokhov, a partisan leader in

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy Tolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; ,Throughout Tolstoy's whole life, his name was written as using Reforms of Russian orthography#The post-revolution re ...

's ''

War and Peace ''War and Peace'' (; pre-reform Russian: ; ) is a literary work by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy. Set during the Napoleonic Wars, the work comprises both a fictional narrative and chapters in which Tolstoy discusses history and philosophy. An ...

'', although the count Fyodor Ivanovich Tolstoy, also known as the "American", is considered a more likely candidate.Commentary of N.M. Fortunatov to ''War and Peace'' novel for the edition Толстой Л. Н. Собрание сочинений в 22-х томах. Т.4. Война и мир. М. «Худож. лит.», 1979.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Figner, Aleksandr Samoilovich 1787 births 1813 deaths Russian commanders of the Napoleonic Wars Russian military personnel of the Napoleonic Wars War and Peace