Alexander Mikhailovich Rimsky-Korsakov (; August 24, 1753 – May 25, 1840) was a Russian
general
A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry.
In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...
remembered as an unlucky assistant to
Alexander Suvorov
Count Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov-Rymniksky, Prince of Italy () was a Russian general and military theorist in the service of the Russian Empire.
Born in Moscow, he studied military history as a young boy and joined the Imperial Russian ...
during his
Swiss expedition of 1799–1800.
Early career
Korsakov entered military service as a cadet in the
Preobrazhensky Life Guards Regiment, and was appointed lieutenant colonel of the
Chernigov Musketeer Regiment at age 25. He fought in the
Russo-Turkish War in 1788 and 1789, and in the
Russo-Swedish War. He subsequently became a major-general of the
Semenovsky Regiment
The Semyonovsky Lifeguard Regiment (, ) was one of the two oldest guard regiments of the Imperial Russian Army. The other one was the Preobrazhensky Regiment. In 2013, it was recreated for the Russian Armed Forces as a rifle regiment, its na ...
of the
Leib Guard
The Russian Imperial Guard, officially known as the Leib Guard ( ''Leyb-gvardiya'', from German language, German ''Leib'' "body"; cf. Lifeguard (military), Life Guards / Bodyguard), were combined Imperial Russian Army forces units serving as cou ...
and was assigned to accompany the
Count of Artois
The count of Artois (, ) was the ruler over the County of Artois from the 9th century until the abolition of the countship by the French Revolution, French revolutionaries in 1790.
House of Artois
*Odalric ()
*Altmar ()
*Adelelm (?–932)
*''C ...
to
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
. From there he went to
Flanders
Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...
as Russian observer to the army commanded by
Prince Josias of Coburg. His account to the tsarina of the
Battle of Fleurus (1794)
The Battle of Fleurus was fought on 26 June 1794 during the War of the First Coalition between the French Revolutionary Army under Jean-Baptiste Jourdan and an Habsburg monarchy, Austro-Dutch Republic, Dutch army commanded by Prince Josias of ...
won him favour; on returning to
St. Petersburg, he was dispatched to serve under Count
Valerian Zubov in an
ill-fated expedition against Persia, which Emperor
Paul I recalled in 1799 in order to deal with the
French Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars () were a series of sweeping military conflicts resulting from the French Revolution that lasted from 1792 until 1802. They pitted French First Republic, France against Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain, Habsb ...
. In 1797, Korsakov was elevated to inspector general of Infantry, and the following year, general lieutenant.
1799 campaign in Switzerland
In 1798, Paul I gave Korsakov command of an expeditionary force of 30,000 men sent to Germany to join
Austria
Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
in the fight against the
French Republic
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
. At the beginning of 1799, the force was diverted to drive the French out of
Switzerland
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
. Leaving
Russia
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
in May, Korsakov reached
Stockach in 90 days. With 29,463 men, his command then marched to
Zürich
Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...
to join up with the 25,000-man corps of Austrian general
Friedrich von Hotze. It was expected that
Alexander Suvorov
Count Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov-Rymniksky, Prince of Italy () was a Russian general and military theorist in the service of the Russian Empire.
Born in Moscow, he studied military history as a young boy and joined the Imperial Russian ...
's army would join them from Italy after marching through the
Alps
The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia.
...
, but terrain and enemy action held up Suvorov's advance. In the meantime, Korsakov waited near Zurich in a relaxed state of over-confidence. Taking full advantage of this, the French under
André Masséna
André Masséna, prince d'Essling, duc de Rivoli (; born Andrea Massena; 6 May 1758 – 4 April 1817), was a French military commander of the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was one of the original eighteen Marshal of the ...
attacked on 25 September 1799, in the
Second Battle of Zürich, winning a signal victory and forcing Korsakov to withdraw rapidly to
Schaffhausen
Schaffhausen (; ; ; ; ), historically known in English as Shaffhouse, is a list of towns in Switzerland, town with historic roots, a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in northern Switzerland, and the capital of the canton of Schaffh ...
, despite almost no pursuit by the French and orders from Suvorov for him to hold his ground. Korsakov then took up a position on the east of the
Rhine
The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...
in the Dorflingen Camp (
Dörflingen
Dörflingen is a village and a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Schaffhausen (canton), Schaffhausen in Switzerland. It borders a short strip of the north shore of the Rhine.
History
Dörflingen ...
) between Schaffhausen and
Constance, remaining there while Masséna was left free to deal with Suvorov. His
left
Left may refer to:
Music
* ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006
* ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016
* ''Left'' (Helmet album), 2023
* "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996
Direction
* Left (direction), the relativ ...
under
Condé was driven from Constance on 7 October, on the same day he advanced from
Büsingen against Schlatt, but was eventually driven back by Masséna, abandoning his hold on the left bank of the Rhine. He joined Suvorov’s survivors at
Lindau
Lindau (, ''Lindau am Bodensee''; ; Low Alemannic German, Low Alemannic: ''Lindou'') is a major Town#Germany, town and Lindau (island), island on the eastern side of Lake Constance (''Bodensee'' in German) in Bavaria, Germany. It is the capital ...
on 18 October, and was shortly after relieved of command. Soon after he was dismissed as colonel-in-chief of the Rostov Musketeer Regiment in disgrace. The combined army turned towards
Bohemia
Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...
, from where Paul I recalled the army back to Russia for the winter.
Later career
With the accession of Emperor
Alexander I Alexander I may refer to:
* Alexander I of Macedon, king of Macedon from 495 to 454 BC
* Alexander I of Epirus (370–331 BC), king of Epirus
* Alexander I Theopator Euergetes, surnamed Balas, ruler of the Seleucid Empire 150-145 BC
* Pope Alex ...
in 1801, Korsakov was re-appointed as a GvC
cavalry
Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from ''cheval'' meaning "horse") are groups of soldiers or warriors who Horses in warfare, fight mounted on horseback. Until the 20th century, cavalry were the most mob ...
general. He was Governor of Lithuania from 1806 to 1809, based at
Vilna
Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...
, and again from April to June, 1812. On the approach of the French he was ordered to withdraw by
Barclay de Tolly on 28 June, but returned to serve for a third term as
Governor-General of Lithuania from 8 December 1812 until 1830. During this time he ordered the reconstruction of the
Tuskulėnai Manor
Tuskulėnai Manor () is a neoclassical manor in Žirmūnai elderate of Vilnius, Lithuania. It is best known as burial grounds of people executed by the KGB in 1944–1947. After Lithuania regained independence in 1990, the manor was reconstruc ...
in Vilnius, where he lived. Recalled to St. Petersberg after the
Polish insurrection of 1830–31, Korsakov was made member of the
State Council of Imperial Russia
The State Council ( rus, Госуда́рственный сове́т, p=ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)ɨj sɐˈvʲet) was the supreme state advisory body to the tsar in the Russian Empire. From 1906, it was the upper house of the parliament under t ...
. He died in 1840.
[Mikaberidze, Alexander. 2005. ''The Russian Officer Corps in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, 1792–1815'' New York.]
References
* Clausewitz, Carl von (2020). ''Napoleon Absent, Coalition Ascendant: The 1799 Campaign in Italy and Switzerland, Volume 1.'' Trans and ed. Nicholas Murray and Christopher Pringle. Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas.
* Clausewitz, Carl von (2021). ''The Coalition Crumbles, Napoleon Returns: The 1799 Campaign in Italy and Switzerland, Volume 2.'' Trans and ed. Nicholas Murray and Christopher Pringle. Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas.
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Korsakov, Alexander
1753 births
1840 deaths
Imperial Russian Army generals
Russian commanders of the Napoleonic Wars
Members of the State Council (Russian Empire)
People of the Russo-Persian Wars
Russian military personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars
Governors-general of Lithuania