Gottlob Curt Heinrich Graf von Tottleben, Herr auf Tottleben, Zeippau und Hansdorf im Saganschen (also ''Tottleben'', ''Todtleben'', or ''Todleben''; ; 21 December 1715 – 20 March 1773) was a

Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

-born 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 ...

known for his adventurism and contradictory military career during 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 ...

and, then, the Russo-Turkish War (1768–74) as a commander of the first Russian expeditionary force in Kartli-Kakheti. His name refers to his domains at Tottleben in

Thuringia Thuringia (; officially the Free State of Thuringia, ) is one of Germany, Germany's 16 States of Germany, states. With 2.1 million people, it is 12th-largest by population, and with 16,171 square kilometers, it is 11th-largest in area. Er ...

, Zeippau and Hansdorf of Sagan in

Lower Silesia Lower Silesia ( ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ) is a historical and geographical region mostly located in Poland with small portions in the Czech Republic and Germany. It is the western part of the region of Silesia. Its largest city is Wrocław. The first ...

Early career

Totleben was born in Tottleben,

, and served at the court of

Augustus III Augustus III (; – "the Saxon"; ; 17 October 1696 5 October 1763) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1733 until 1763, as well as Elector of Saxony in the Holy Roman Empire where he was known as Frederick Augustus II (). He w ...

, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony. He fled Saxony after being accused of corruption. He then served for various periods at the courts of

Saxe-Weissenfels Saxe-Weissenfels () was a Duchy of the Holy Roman Empire from 1656 until 1746 with its residence at Weißenfels. Ruled by a cadet branch of the Albertine House of Wettin, the duchy passed to the Electorate of Saxony upon the extinction of the line ...

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

, the

Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, commonly referred to in historiography as the Dutch Republic, was a confederation that existed from 1579 until the Batavian Revolution in 1795. It was a predecessor state of the present-day Netherlands ...

during the

War of the Austrian Succession The War of the Austrian Succession was a European conflict fought between 1740 and 1748, primarily in Central Europe, the Austrian Netherlands, Italian Peninsula, Italy, the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Related conflicts include King Ge ...

, and the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...

. In 1747, he is mentioned as commander of a regiment of infantry of the Dutch Republic, but the regiment existed only on paper and was never realized. By then he already had a reputation as a scoundrel. Count Totleben entered the Russian service during the 7 Years War. He distinguished himself at the

Battle of Kunersdorf The Battle of Kunersdorf occurred on 12 August 1759 near Kunersdorf (now Kunowice, Poland) immediately east of Frankfurt an der Oder. Part of the Third Silesian War and the wider Seven Years' War, the battle involved over 100,000 men. An Alli ...

and was promoted to General. Totleben gained particular fame for his brief occupation of the

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, ...

n capital

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

in 1760.The Russian Biographical Dictionary Shortly, the advance of

Frederick the Great 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 Prussia ...

’s Prussian army forced him to retreat, however. In June 1761, he was accused of treachery and arrested in

Pomerania Pomerania ( ; ; ; ) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The central and eastern part belongs to the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, West Pomeranian, Pomeranian Voivod ...

. Sent in chains to

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

, he was sentenced to death via quartering, but Empress

Catherine the Great 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 ...

pardoned him in 1763. Nevertheless, Totleben was deprived of all his titles and awards and sent into exile abroad or to

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

Expedition to Georgia

In 1768, with the outbreak of the war with the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

, he was summoned to active service again, this time in

Transcaucasia The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and West Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Armenia, ...

, where, for the first time in the

history of the Russo-Turkish wars 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 ...

, Catherine decided to stage a military diversion against the Ottomans' frontier provinces. Thus, Totleben became the first commander to have brought an organized Russian military force to Transcaucasia through the

Darial Gorge The Darial Gorge; ; ; . is a river gorge on the border between Russia and Georgia. It is at the east base of Mount Kazbek, south of present-day Vladikavkaz. The gorge was carved by the river Terek, and is approximately long. The steep granite w ...

. He was instructed to join his forces with King

Heraclius II of Georgia Heraclius II, also known as Erekle II ( ka, ერეკლე II) and The Little Kakhetian ( ka, პატარა კახი, link=no ; 7 November 1720 or 7 October 1721 Cyril_Toumanoff.html" ;"title="ccording to Cyril Toumanoff">C. Touman ...

who hoped to reconquer the Ottoman-held southern Georgian lands in conjunction with Russia. However, Totleben soon quarrelled with the Georgian king and his commanders, whom he despised as "ignorant orientals" and demanded the exclusion of all Georgian officers from a combined army. Several Russian officers plotted against Totleben who, in his turn, accused Georgians of instigating all intrigues.Potto (2006) The relations between the Russian commander and Heraclius were subjected to greater strain in April 1770, when the Russo-Georgian army marched against Ahıska (

Akhaltsikhe Akhaltsikhe ( ka, ახალციხე ), formerly known as Lomsia ( ka, ლომსია ), is a small city in Georgia's southwestern region () of Samtskhe–Javakheti. It is the administrative center of the Akhaltsikhe Municipality and ...

), the Ottoman stronghold in Georgia. Totleben suddenly showed reluctance to engage in battle and abandoned the king on the battlefield. While the battle raged between the Georgians and Turks, Totleben marched to Tiflis and allied himself with a party of oppositionist Georgian nobles to stage a coup. However, Heraclius' victory over the Turks at the Battle of Aspindza made this plan unrealizable. The Russian government sent Captain Yazykov to investigate the affair, but Totleben had already crossed into

Imereti Imereti ( Georgian: იმერეთი, ) is a region of Georgia situated in the central-western part of the republic along the middle and upper reaches of the Rioni River. Imereti is the most populous region in Georgia. It consists of 11 mun ...

, western Georgia, where he acted more energetically. Totleben dispossessed the Turks of the fortresses of Şorapani ( Shorapani) and Bağdati (

Baghdati Baghdati ( ka, ბაღდათი, tr ) is a town of 3,700 people in the Imereti region of western Georgia, at the edge of the Ajameti forest on the river Khanistsqali, a tributary of the Rioni. Geography The town is located at the edge of ...

) and helped King Solomon I of Imereti recover his capital

Kutaisi Kutaisi ( ; ka, ქუთაისი ) is a city in the Imereti region of the Georgia (country), Republic of Georgia. One of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, it is the List o ...

on 6 August 1770. He then routed 25,000 Ottoman troops on his march to the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

and laid siege to the fortress of

Poti Poti ( ka, ფოთი ; Mingrelian language, Mingrelian: ფუთი; Laz language, Laz: ჶაში/Faşi or ფაში/Paşi) is a port city in Georgia (country), Georgia, located on the eastern Black Sea coast in the mkhare, region of ...

. However, Totleben again found himself in the centre of intrigues between Solomon and his defiant vassal princes of

Mingrelia Mingrelia or Samegrelo ( ka, სამეგრელო, tr ; ) is a historic province in the western part of Georgia, formerly known as Odishi. It is primarily inhabited by the Mingrelians, a subgroup of Georgians. Geography and climate Mingr ...

and

Guria Guria ( ka, გურია) is a region (''mkhare'') in Georgia (country), Georgia, in the western part of the country, bordered by the eastern end of the Black Sea. The region has a population of 104,338 (2023), with Ozurgeti as the regional cap ...

who wanted to secure Russian support against each other. The siege of Poti did not go well for the besiegers, and Totleben's relations with Solomon rapidly deteriorated. Totleben was recalled from Georgia in January 1771His successor, Major General Sukhotin, continued the fruitless siege of Poti, and after an abortive attempt at storming the fortress, withdrew to Tiflis. The Russian expedition was finally recalled by Catherine early in 1772, leaving behind several gangs of deserters. One of them, of 300 men strong and commanded by Captain Semitryev, engaged in widespread robbery and looting, and penetrated the

Caspian Caspian can refer to: *The Caspian Sea *The Caspian Depression, surrounding the northern part of the Caspian Sea *The Caspians, the ancient people living near the Caspian Sea *The Caspian languages spoken in northern Iran and southeastern Azerbaij ...

whence it reached the

Volga The Volga (, ) is the longest river in Europe and the longest endorheic basin river in the world. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catchment ...

only to be routed by the regular army. Potto (2006) and assigned to lead a division at

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

where he soon died.

References and notes

Bibliography

*
Готлиб-Генрих Тотлебен
(Gottlieb-Heinrich Totleben), in ''The Russian Biographical Dictionary'' * Avtorkhanov, Abdurakhman & Broxup, Marie (1992), ''The North Caucasus Barrier: The Russian Advance Towards the Muslim World''. C. Hurst & Co. Publishers, . * Kneschke, Ernst Heinrich, Prof. Dr.: ''Neues allgemeines Deutsches Adels-Lexicon im Vereine mit mehreren Historikern herausgegeben von Prof. Dr. Ernst Heinrich Kneschke'' (lit. ' Neues allgemeines deutsches Adels-Lexicon, published by Prof. Dr. Ernst Heinrich Kneschke together with several historians'), unmodified reprint of the edition published in 1859–1870 by Friedrich Voigt in Leipzig. Vol. IX, Degener & Co., owner Oswald Spohr, Leipzig 1930 * Lang, David Marshall (1962), ''A Modern History of Georgia''. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. * Lang, D. M. (1951), "Count Todtleben's Expedition to Georgia 1769–1771 according to a French Eyewitness". ''Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies'',

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

, Vol. 13, No. 4, pp. 878–907. * Potto, Vasily (2006, originally published 1899), Кавказская война. В 5 томах. Том 1. От древнейших времен до Ермолова (''The Caucasus War. Vol. 1: From the earliest times to Yermolov''), Центрполиграф (''Tsentripoligraf''), * Repinsky, Grigory Kuzmich: Граф Готтлоб-Курт-Генрих Тоттлебен в в 1715–1763 г.г. Материалы для биографии ('Count Gottlob-Kurt-Heinrich Tottleben in 1715–1763. Materials for a biography'), in ''

Russkaya Starina ''Russkaia Starina'' (, , ) was a Russian history journal published monthly in St. Petersburg by amateur historian Mikhail Semevsky and his successors between 1870 and 1916. Its authors included Ivan Zabelin, Dmitry Ilovaysky, Nikolai Karlovi ...

'', October 1888, June, September and October 1889 (issues LX, LXII, LXIII, LXIV) {{DEFAULTSORT:Totleben, Gottlieb Heinrich 1715 births 1773 deaths Counts in Germany Immigrants to the Russian Empire Imperial Russian Army generals 18th century in Georgia (country) People from the Electorate of Saxony People from Unstrut-Hainich-Kreis Russian military personnel of the Seven Years' War Russian people of the Bar Confederation People of the Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774) Emigrants from the Holy Roman Empire