Count Alexander Petrovich Tormasov (; 22 August 1752 – 25 November 1819) was a Russian

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 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 ...

prominent during the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

Early life

Alexander Tormasov was born on 22 August 1752 into an old Russian noble family. At the age of ten, he entered service as a Page of Honour, then, aged 20 in 1772 he began military service as a lieutenant of the Vyatka infantry regiment. Within a few weeks he joined the staff of Yakov Bruce as aide-de-camp. Three years later Tormasov formed and headed the Finland

Chasseur ''Chasseur'' ( , ), a French term for "hunter", is the designation given to certain regiments of French and Belgian light infantry () or light cavalry () to denote troops trained for rapid action. History This branch of the French Army o ...

regiment with the rank of lieutenant colonel. In 1782 Prince

Potemkin Prince Grigory Aleksandrovich Potemkin-Tauricheski (A number of dates as late as 1742 have been found on record; the veracity of any one is unlikely to be proved. This is his "official" birth-date as given on his tombstone.) was a Russian mi ...

charged to him an operation in the

Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...

. Following that Tormasov commanded the Dolmatsky Hussars, on the base of which he formed and led the Aleksandrian light cavalry regiment with the rank of colonel.

First time as general

In 1788–1791 he took part in the Russo-Turkish War, serving at the Siege of Ochakov and the Danube river raids, and was promoted to major general on 21 March 1791. He commanded the left flank cavalry at the storm of Machin, for which he received the Order of St. George 3rd Class. In 1792 and 1794 he n generalsuccessfully acted against the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

during the

Polish–Russian War of 1792 The Polish–Russian War of 1792 (also, War of the Second Partition, and in Polish sources, War in Defence of the Constitution) was fought between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth on one side, and the Targowica Confederation (conservativ ...

and Kościuszko Uprising, being at Maciejowice and commanding a column under Suvorov in the assault on Praga. He was also commanding at Racławice, a failed engagement. Like many other generals of this time, he was dismissed by Emperor Paul I on 11 July 1799 and was imprisoned in the Dünamünde fortress for several months. On 16 November 1800 he was restored in the army. On 15 September 1801, on the day of the coronation of the new Emperor Alexander I he was promoted to

Full General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED Online. ...

of cavalry. Later he took up an administrative post until 1803.

Time as governor and commander

From 1803 Tormasov served as governor of

Kiev Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

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, and from 1807

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. From 1809 to 1811, he served as a Viceroy of Georgia and as the commander-in-chief in the

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. After the

French invasion of Russia The French invasion of Russia, also known as the Russian campaign (), the Second Polish War, and in Russia as the Patriotic War of 1812 (), was initiated by Napoleon with the aim of compelling the Russian Empire to comply with the Continenta ...

began, Tormasov became the Chief Commander of the 40,000-man Third Reserve Army of Observation on 27 March 1812. Advancing North against Jean Reynier in mid July, he overwhelmed Klengel's Saxon brigade at Kobryn 27th, marking the first Russian victory in the campaign. Tormasov received the Order of St. George 2nd Class for this. Defeated in turn by Reynier and Schwarzenberg at Gorodetschna (Podobna, Prujany) 12 August, he then withdrew to Ratno to join with the corps of Pavel Chichagov, meeting him on the Styr River 18 September. The combined command then acted under the orders of Mikhail Kutuzov, and fought at Brest-Litovsk 9 October. Ordered to envelop 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 ...

at Liady, he was however recalled to the main army by Kutusov after being repulsed at the 2nd Battle of Krasnoe 15 November. Appointed by Kutuzov with internal management of all troops in December, he was then made overall commander of the Russian main Army after Kutuzov's death. In 1813 he commanded the Russian army at the Battle of Lützen, but then resigned due to failing health.

Late life and career

After leaving military service he became a member of the State Council. On 30 August 1814 he succeeded Count Fyodor Rostopchin as

Governor-general Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...

of the

Moscow Governorate The Moscow Governorate was a province ('' guberniya'') of the Tsardom of Russia, and the Russian Empire. It was bordered by Tver Governorate to the north, Vladimir Governorate to the northeast, Ryazan Governorate to the southeast, Tula Gove ...

. Two years later he received a comital title for his efforts in rebuilding the city. After his death in Moscow on November 25, 1819, he was buried in the Donskoy Monastery. Tormasov's only son died in 1839 and thus this family became extinct.

References

Sources

External links

*
Dictionary of Russian Generals
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tormasov, Alexander Petrovich Governors-general of Kiev 1752 births 1819 deaths Imperial Russian Army generals Governors-general of Moscow Members of the State Council (Russian Empire) Caucasus Viceroyalty (1801–1917) 1800s in Georgia (country) Russian commanders of the Napoleonic Wars Counts of the Russian Empire Russian people of the Kościuszko Uprising Russian military personnel of the Napoleonic Wars People of the Russo-Persian Wars Russian people of the Polish–Russian War of 1792 Recipients of the Order of St. George of the Second Degree Recipients of the Order of St. George of the Third Degree Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Poland)