Count Alexander Romanovich Bruce (1704–1760) was a lieutenant general in the

Imperial Russia Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor/empress, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imperial, Nebraska * Imperial, Pennsylvania * ...

n army. He was the son of Robert Bruce (1668–1720), first commandant of St Petersburg, whose brother was

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 ...

's associate Jacob Bruce.

Life

On 7 May 1722 he was appointed to the Engineer Corps and later that year he was sent abroad, only returning to Russia in 1726. He was then made a warrant officer and later a cavalryman, before promotion to captain in 1727. In 1729 he became aide de camp to marshal

Vasily Vladimirovich Dolgorukov Prince Vasily Vladimirovich Dolgorukov (; c. January 1667 – 11 February 1746, Saint Petersburg) was a Russian commander and politician, promoted to Field Marshal (''генерал-фельдмаршал'') in 1728. His life and fortune swung li ...

. He also married Vasily's niece Anastasia Mikhailovna Dolgorukova on 26 July 1729 – their son

James Bruce (1732–1791) Count James Bruce (; 1732 – 30 November 1791) was a Russian general of Scottish origin. His grandfather was Lieutenant General Robert Bruce, a Scottish immigrant to Russia, and he was also great-nephew of Jacob Bruce. His father was Lieutenant ...

died without male issue and the Russian Bruce line died out when James' only daughter Catherine died childless in 1829. Alexander was sent to the Tsaritsyn Line in 1731. During the

War of the Polish Succession The War of the Polish Succession (; 1733–35) was a major European conflict sparked by a civil war in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth over the succession to Augustus II the Strong, which the other European powers widened in pursuit of ...

in 1733, he was put in command of a newly-formed special regiment. In 1736 he fought in the Russo-Turkish War (1735-1739) and was present in

Burkhard Christoph von Münnich Burkhard Christoph Graf von Münnich (; – ) was a German-born army officer who became a field marshal and political figure in the Russian Empire. He carried out major reforms in the Russian Army and founded several elite military forma ...

's Crimean campaign and the battle at the Solyan lake under the command of Lieutenant General Izmailov. On 9 December 1736 Bruce was promoted to colonel and put in command of the Reval Dragoon Regiment and the following year he was present at the siege of Ochakov. He fought in the 1738 Dniester campaign and the 1739 Moldavian campaign, taking part in the capture of Khotin. On 14 February 1740, after the war's end, he was promoted to major general. For a short time from 29 March 1740 he was also vice-governor of

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. At the rank of major general he fought in the

Russo-Swedish War (1741–43) This is a list of wars between Russia, Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to th ...

, during which he was sent to Finland as part of generalissimo

James Francis Edward Keith James Francis Edward Keith (in later years ''Jakob von Keith''; 11 June 1696 – 14 October 1758) was a Scottish soldier and ''Generalfeldmarschall'' of the Royal Prussian Army. As a Jacobite he took part in a failed attempt to restore t ...

's force, staying there until the end of 1742. His wife died in summer 1745 and in December that year Bruce re-married to

Ekaterina Alekseyevna Dolgorukova Princess Ekaterina Alekseyevna Dolgorukova (; 1712–1747) was a Russian noble, engaged to Tsar Peter II of Russia. Biography She was the daughter of the Russian Prince Alexei Dolgorukov and niece to Prince Vasily Lukich Dolgorukov. She grew ...

, another member of the Dolgorukov family and formerly engaged to

Peter II of Russia Peter II Alexeyevich ( Russian: Пётр II Алексеевич; 23 October 1715 30 January 1730) was Emperor of Russia from 1727 until 1730, when he died at the age of 14. He was the only son of Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich and Charlotte Chris ...

, though she died of a cold shortly after her wedding to Bruce. He then married a third time, to the young Natalia Fedorovna Kolycheva (1730–1777). Alexander retired with the rank of lieutenant general on 25 April 1752. He was also a knight of the

Order of Saint Anna The Imperial Order of Saint Anna (; also "Order of Saint Anne" or "Order of Saint Ann") was a Holstein ducal and then Russian imperial order of chivalry. It was established by Karl Friedrich, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, on 14 February 1735, in hono ...

. He was buried on his estate at Glinka (now in the town of Losino-Petrovsky) in St John's Church.

External links

*https://ru.wikisource.org/wiki/%D0%AD%D0%A1%D0%91%D0%95/%D0%91%D1%80%D1%8E%D1%81,_%D0%90%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BA%D1%81%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B4%D1%80_%D0%A0%D0%BE%D0%BC%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87 *http://dlib.rsl.ru/viewer/01003967001#?page=179 *http://dlib.rsl.ru/viewer/01004161651#?page=115 {{DEFAULTSORT:Bruce, Alexander Romanovich 1704 births 1760 deaths People from the Russian Empire of Scottish descent Russian military personnel of the War of the Polish Succession People of the Russo-Swedish War (1741–1743) Recipients of the Order of St. Anna Imperial Russian Army generals