Magnus Gustav von Essen or Ivan Nikolayevich Essen (; ) was a Russian

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

Baltic German Baltic Germans ( or , later ) are Germans, ethnic German inhabitants of the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, in what today are Estonia and Latvia. Since Flight and expulsion of Germans (1944–1950), their resettlement in 1945 after the end ...

origin and the military governor of

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

at the start of the

Patriotic War of 1812 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 continent ...

Life

Pre-1812

From the

Essen family The Essen family or von Essen is the name of a Baltic nobility, Baltic German noble family which later became part of the Swedish nobility, Swedish and Russian nobility. History The first known ancestor was Thomas von Essen (d. 1615–1627) who w ...

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

, from 1783 to 1785 he fought in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, where he was seriously injured. He fought in the

Russo-Swedish War (1788–1790) The Russo-Swedish War of 1788–1790 was fought between Gustavian era, Sweden and Russian Empire, Russia from June 1788 to August 1790. The war was ended by the Treaty of Värälä on 14 August 1790 and took place concomitantly with both the A ...

as well as Russia's 1792 and 1794 Polish campaigns. For his service at the

Battle of Maciejowice The Battle of Maciejowice was fought on 10 October 1794, between Poland and the Russian Empire during the Polish Uprising of 1794. The Poles were led by Tadeusz Kościuszko. Kościuszko with 6,200 men, who planned to prevent the linking of thr ...

he was awarded the 4th degree of the

Order of St George Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * ...

. In 1799 he commanded the first division in the

Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland The Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland (or Anglo-Russian expedition to Holland, or Helder Expedition) was a military campaign from 27 August to 19 November 1799 during the War of the Second Coalition, in which an expeditionary force of British and ...

under the command of general

Johann Hermann von Fersen Johann Hermann von Fersen (; 1740 – 9 June 1801) was an Imperial Russian Army officer. Born in Saxony, he joined the Russian army in 1770. Life He was involved in the battles at Larga and Kagul during the Russo-Turkish War of 1768–1774 ...

. From 1802 he was the military governor of

Smolensk Smolensk is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River, west-southwest of Moscow. First mentioned in 863, it is one of the oldest cities in Russia. It has been a regional capital for most of ...

. He then fought in the 1807 war against Napoleon, being seriously wounded at Friedland.

1812

During the

he served as Military Governor of Riga in place of Dimitri Lobanov-Rostovsky and was forced to set fire to Riga's suburbs as soon as the enemy captured their outermost edge. After unsuccessful attempts to stop the Prussians at a distance from the city and unsuccessfully fighting to save

Iecava Iecava () () is a town on the European route E67, via Baltica in Bauska Municipality, in the Semigallia region of southern Latvia. The town has a population of around 9700 people. Iecava lies 40 km south of Riga and 23 km north of Bau ...

, he ordered the burning of the suburbs but because of a strong wind the fire got out of control and thousands of city residents were left homeless. Towards autumn the war changed direction. The Prussian corps became overextended, Macdonald remained inactive, a Russian successes was won by

Peter Wittgenstein Louis Adolf Peter, 1st Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Ludwigsburg-Berleburg (; ; ''Pyotr Christianovitch Wittgenstein''; – 11 June 1843), better known as Peter Wittgenstein in English, was a prince of the German dynasty of Sayn-Wittgenstein ...

Polotsk Polotsk () or Polatsk () is a town in Vitebsk Region, Belarus. It is situated on the Dvina River and serves as the administrative center of Polotsk District. Polotsk is served by Polotsk Airport and Borovitsy air base. As of 2025, it has a pop ...

, Napoleon began a general retreat and Fabian Steinheil arrived in Riga - all these circumstances brought Essen to the top of the pile, but due to mismanagement the Russians were unable to capitalise on these victories and suffered heavy losses in several battles. In October Essen was replaced in his post by General Paulucci and filed his resignation. Essen then went for a long course of treatment at the

Baldone Baldone (; ) is a town in Ķekava Municipality, in the Semigallia region of Latvia. The town is famous for its sulfur water springs and was a spa resort. Viktors Arājs was born here in 1910. Gallery File:Mercendarbes muiža.jpg, Mencendarb ...

sulphur baths near Riga, where he drowned on 23 August 1813 while swimming. According to one version of events, he committed suicide on the anniversary of the firing of the Riga suburbs.

Family

His father was Claus Gustav von Essen, a statesman, and his mother was Magdalena Elisabeth von Stackelberg. Essen married Margaretha von Stackelberg in 1796, they had a daughter, Elisabeth Anna Dorothea, who was married to the Russian general Carl Magnus von der Pahlen ( ru).

In fiction

He is portrayed in '' The Commodore'', novel of the

Horatio Hornblower Horatio Hornblower is a fictional officer in the British Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, the protagonist of a series of novels and stories by C. S. Forester. He later became the subject of films and radio and television programmes, and ...

series.

Notes

Sources

Dictionary of Russian generals, members of hostilities against the army of Napoleon Bonaparte in the 1812-1815 war.
/ / The Russian archive: Sat. — М .: студия «ТРИТЭ» Н.Михалкова, 1996. - M.: Studio «TRITE» N. Mikhalkov, 1996. — Т. VII. - Vol VII. — С. 630-631. - S. 630-631. {{DEFAULTSORT:Essen, Ivan Nikolaevich 1759 births 1813 deaths People from Viru-Nigula Parish People from Kreis Wierland Baltic-German people from the Russian Empire Imperial Russian Army generals Russian commanders of the Napoleonic Wars Russian people of the Kościuszko Uprising Russian people of the Polish–Russian War of 1792 French invasion of Russia Deaths by drowning in the Russian Empire Essen family Ethnic German people from the Russian Empire