Alexander Mikhailovich Golitsyn (17 November 1718 – 8 October 1783) was a Russian prince of the House of Golitsyn and

field marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army (in countries without the rank of Generalissimo), and as such, few persons a ...

. He was the General Governor of

Saint Petersburg Governorate Saint Petersburg Governorate was a province (''guberniya'') of the Russian Empire, with its capital in Saint Petersburg. The governorate was composed of of area and 2,112,033 inhabitants. It was bordered by Governorate of Estonia, Estonian and G ...

in 1780 to 1783.

Life

Early life

As was traditional for noble families, Golitsyn's name was inscribed as a captain on the list of the Life Guards while still a child. He lost his father aged 13. The family was then out of favour with empress

Anna of Russia Anna Ioannovna (; ), also russified as Anna Ivanovna and sometimes anglicized as Anne, served as regent of the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia from 1711 until 1730 and then ruled as Empress of Russia from 1730 to 1740. Much of her administratio ...

and so Alexander could not count on high patronage, so went to spend 17 years in Austria, where he fought in the Austrian army and gained the notice of

Prince Eugene of Savoy Prince Eugene Francis of Savoy-Carignano (18 October 1663 – 21 April 1736), better known as Prince Eugene, was a distinguished Generalfeldmarschall, field marshal in the Army of the Holy Roman Empire and of the Austrian Habsburg dynasty durin ...

. On his return to Russia in 1740 Alexander was sent to Constantinople in the entourage of ambassador A. Rumyantsev, but soon received a new assignment, as Russian Minister Plenipotentiary to the

Elector of Saxony The Electorate of Saxony, also known as Electoral Saxony ( or ), was a territory of the Holy Roman Empire from 1356 to 1806 initially centred on Wittenberg that came to include areas around the cities of Dresden, Leipzig and Chemnitz. It was a ...

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

.Lib.ru/ Жизнь и приключения Андрея Болотова. Описанные самим им для своих потомков
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Seven Years' War

Elizabeth of Russia Elizabeth or Elizaveta Petrovna (; ) was Empress of Russia from 1741 until her death in 1762. She remains one of the most popular List of Russian rulers, Russian monarchs because of her decision not to execute a single person during her reign, ...

came to the throne at the end of 1741 and the Golitsyn family returned to royal favour. During her reign Alexander successfully climbed the military and diplomatic career ladder and by 1744 was already at the rank of lieutenant general. In 1757 he was appointed to a command in the army fighting

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

in the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...

. In 1758 he distinguished himself by capturing Тorea and at

Kunersdorf Kunowice () is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Słubice, within Słubice County, Lubusz Voivodeship, in western Poland, near the Oder river and the German border. It lies approximately east of Słubice, south-west of Gorzów W ...

commanded the Russian left flank.

Pyotr Saltykov Count Pyotr Semyonovich Saltykov (; 21 December 1698 – 6 January 1773) was a Russian statesman and a military officer, promoted to the rank of field marshal on 18 August 1759. Saltykov is one of the finest commanders in Russian history. The e ...

's battleplan depended on deliberately drawing

Frederick II of Prussia Frederick II (; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was the monarch of Prussia from 1740 until his death in 1786. He was the last Hohenzollern monarch titled ''King in Prussia'', declaring himself '' King of Prussia'' after annexing Royal Prus ...

's troops to attack the Russian left flank, so that the enemy could then be attacked from the centre and the right flank. Golitsyn had a hard time and after a staunch defence his troops were ultimately unable to survive the Prussian infantry and cavalry onslaught and retreated, with Alexander himself wounded. Military historians later found an analogy between this situation and Bagration's troops on the Russian left flank at

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. T ...

, who were also the main target of the enemy assault and withdrew, with Bagration fatally wounded and unable to build on his success. At Kunersdorf, however, Saltykov's battleplan was a success and Frederick lost the battle, with Golitsyn awarded the

Order of Alexander Nevsky The Order of Alexander Nevsky () is an Order (distinction), order of merit of the Russia, Russian Federation named in honour of saint Alexander Nevsky (1220–1263) and bestowed to civil servants for twenty years or more of highly meritorious ser ...

and the rank of general-in-chief by Elizabeth. At the end of the war with Prussia, he was appointed commander of Russian troops in

Livonia Livonia, known in earlier records as Livland, is a historical region on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. It is named after the Livonians, who lived on the shores of present-day Latvia. By the end of the 13th century, the name was extende ...

Russo-Turkish War

Catherine II of Russia Catherine II. (born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst; 2 May 172917 November 1796), most commonly known as Catherine the Great, was the reigning empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796. She came to power after overthrowing her husband, Peter I ...

's accession in 1762 Golitsyn was awarded the

Order of Saint Andrew The Order of Saint Andrew the Apostle the First-Called () is the highest order conferred by both the Russian Imperial Family (as an order of chivalry) and by the Russian Federation (as a state order). Established as the first and highest order o ...

and the title of the Adjutant General. By becoming a member of the High Court Council, he used the empress's influence and his diplomatic and military knowledge. At the start of the

Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774) The Russo-Turkish wars ( ), or the Russo-Ottoman wars (), began in 1568 and continued intermittently until 1918. They consisted of twelve conflicts in total, making them one of the longest series of wars in the history of Europe. All but four of ...

, Golitsyn was entrusted with the command of an army, with which he moved on

Khotyn Khotyn (, ; , ; see #Name, other names) is a List of cities in Ukraine, city in Dnistrovskyi Raion, Chernivtsi Oblast of western Ukraine, located south-west of Kamianets-Podilskyi. It hosts the administration of Khotyn urban hromada, one of th ...

. Splitting 40th Corps, he did not dare assault the city and withdrew to re-supply his troops and strengthen his rearguard. In 1769 he moved on Khotyn again and began to besiege it. The arrival of fresh Turkish and Tartar troops could bolster the besieged garrison and increase Russian casualties during the final assault, so he decided to raise the siege and led the army from the

Dnieper The Dnieper or Dnepr ( ), also called Dnipro ( ), is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. Approximately long, with ...

, hoping to draw the enemy garrison out into open battle on ground favourable to him. In the meantime Catherine decided to replace Golitsyn as general-in-chief with

Pyotr Rumyantsev Count Pyotr Alexandrovich Rumyantsev-Zadunaisky (; – ) was one of the foremost Russian generals of the 18th century, and is widely considered to be one of Russia's greatest military leaders, and one of the greatest military commanders in ...

, who she hoped would act more decisively, but before Rumyantsev's arrival Golitsyn succeeded into drawing the Turkish forces onto favourable ground: Under the command of Supreme Vizier Moldavanchi, they attacked Golitsyn's force on 29 August and were defeated, losing up to 7,000 men, around 70 guns and all their baggage. Without delay, Golitsyn's army began to pursue the enemy, capturing Khotyn on 9 September; its garrison and many residents fled, leaving the city half-empty. Golitsyn then handed the army over to Rumyantsev and returned to

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

, where Catherine welcomed him and made him a field marshal on 20 October 1769. After the

Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca The Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca (; ), formerly often written Kuchuk-Kainarji, was a peace treaty signed on , in Küçük Kaynarca (today Kaynardzha, Bulgaria and Cuiugiuc, Romania) between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire, ending the R ...

Golitsyn was awarded with a diamond sword with an inscription that translated "For the purification of

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

as far as Iaşi" and the 69th Infantry Regiment was renamed after him. The military writer

Dmitri Bantysh-Kamensky Dmitri Nikolaevich Bantysh-Kamensky (; 5 (New Style date, 16) November 1788, Moscow – January 25 (New Style date, February 6) 1850, Saint Petersburg) was a Russian statesman and historian who studied under pioneering 18th century historian ...

recounts how Golitsyn invited Saltykov, under whom he had fought at Kunersdorf, to visit the Dormition Cathedral. As they both entered the church, nobody was inside it and Saltykov said to Golitsyn "It's as empty as Khotyn".

Later career

After the war Golitsyn became one of the Russian statesmen who were Catherine's close confidants. In 1769 he was made a member of the board at the imperial court, in 1772 adjutant general, in December 1774 a senator, from 1775 to 1782 a member of the council for 1st Cadet Corps (as commander of the 1,777 troops stationed in Livonia), from September 1778 senior director of the revisions board and from May 1779 a position on the commission for the structure of the capital and other cities. In 1780, at Golitsyn's initiative, the nobility of the province of Saint Petersburg decided to award Catherine the title "Mother of the Fatherland", but she refused it; at the refusal, Golitsyn replied "Do not purchase empty names as the subject of my reign, but that of bringing good and calm to the fatherland". Golitsyn was governor general of Saint Petersburg in 1775 and from 1780 to 1783 and carried out several public works to beautify it. In 1775 he completed the casting of the equestrian statue of Peter I for the city. By decree of Catherine, on April 17, 1775, a new general school was set up in the city. He also established loans schemes and put on Dana's first Russian opera, 'Cephalus and Procris'. He reformed the city's police in 1782, dividing it into 10 police districts, opened the Obukhov insane asylum and built stone storehouses on

New Holland Island New Holland Island () is a historic triangular artificial island in central Saint Petersburg, Russia, dating from the 18th century. It is also known as Admiralty Island. Construction The island was created in 1719, when the newly built Kry ...

. On 7 August 1782 he inaugurated the

Peter the Great Peter I (, ; – ), better known as Peter the Great, was the Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Prince of all Russia, Tsar of all Russia from 1682 and the first Emperor of Russia, Emperor of all Russia from 1721 until his death in 1725. He reigned j ...

monument on Senate Square. He was one of the eleven people awarded the ribbon of the

Order of Saint Vladimir The Imperial Order of Saint Prince Vladimir () was an Imperial Russian order established on by Empress Catherine the Great, Catherine II in memory of the deeds of Vladimir I, Prince of Kiev, Saint Vladimir, the Grand Prince and the Baptizer of ...

at its establishment on 22 September 1782. He died in 1783 and was buried in the Church of the Annunciation at the

Alexander Nevsky Lavra Saint Alexander Nevsky Lavra or Saint Alexander Nevsky Monastery was founded by Peter I of Russia in 1710 at the eastern end of the Nevsky Prospekt in Saint Petersburg, in the belief that this was the site of the Neva Battle in 1240 when Alexa ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Golitsyn, Alexander Mikhailovich 1718 births 1783 deaths

Alexander Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here ar ...

Imperial Russian Army generals 18th-century military personnel from the Russian Empire Russian military personnel of the Seven Years' War Field marshals of the Russian Empire Ambassadors to Saxony Recipients of the Order of St. Vladimir, 1st class Burials at the Annunciation Church of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra Nobility from the Russian Empire Governors-general of Saint Petersburg