Johann Martin Reichsgraf von Elmpt (, tr. ; 1725) was a military officer of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

. A German nobleman who entered the Russian service after first serving in France, he went on to command troops in many of the Empire's wars during the reign of

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 ...

Biography

Born in

Kleve Kleve (; traditional ; ; ; ; ; Low Rhenish: ''Kleff'') is a town in the Lower Rhine region of northwestern Germany near the Netherlands, Dutch border and the River Rhine. From the 11th century onwards, Cleves was capital of a county and lat ...

and descended from a family of , Johann was the son of Baron Kaspar von Elmpt (died 1730), and after receiving his initial education in his native town, he entered the service of the French Army. In 1749 he transferred into the Russian army at the rank of captain. He quickly advanced through the ranks, being promoted to colonel on 25 December 1755. Elmpt distinguished himself during the Prussian Campaigns of 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 ...

. He was appointed a

brigadier Brigadier ( ) is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore (rank), commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several t ...

, and then made a major-general on 2 April 1762. He served as quartermaster general for the field army, and performed a number of vital staff responsibilities, including the drawing up of military maps for

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 ...

and

Courland Courland is one of the Historical Latvian Lands in western Latvia. Courland's largest city is Liepāja, which is the third largest city in Latvia. The regions of Semigallia and Selonia are sometimes considered as part of Courland as they were ...

, including plans for field camps and troop dispositions throughout the region. In 1763 he was awarded 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 ...

. With the formation of a field army in Glukhov under

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 ...

in 1768 to fight the Turks, Elmpt was made part of its command staff, but he transferred to another field army the following year. In September 1769, Elmpt and Mikhail Kamensky under orders from

Alexander Mikhailovich Golitsyn Alexander Mikhailovich Golitsyn (17 November 1718 – 8 October 1783) was a Russian prince of the House of Golitsyn family, Golitsyn and field marshal. He was the General Governor of Saint Petersburg Governorate in 1780 to 1783. Life Earl ...

, crossed a large force of

Grenadier A grenadier ( , ; derived from the word ''grenade'') was historically an assault-specialist soldier who threw hand grenades in siege operation battles. The distinct combat function of the grenadier was established in the mid-17th century, when ...

regiments over the

Dniester The Dniester ( ) is a transboundary river in Eastern Europe. It runs first through Ukraine and then through Moldova (from which it more or less separates the breakaway territory of Transnistria), finally discharging into the Black Sea on Uk ...

river to assault the fortress at

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 ...

, leading to a battle that decimated the Turkish forces there. Later Elmpt participated in the seizure of

Iași Iași ( , , ; also known by other #Etymology and names, alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the Cities in Romania, third largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical ...

, and commanded a special detachment of the main army stationed on the Dniester and

Bug River The Bug or Western Bug is a major river in Central Europe that flows through Belarus (border), Poland, and Ukraine, with a total length of .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 a promotion to the rank of

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 ...

. In 1772 Elmpt was a major commander of troops against the

Bar Confederation The Bar Confederation (; 1768–1772) was an association of Polish nobles (''szlachta'') formed at the fortress of Bar, Ukraine, Bar in Podolia (now Ukraine), in 1768 to defend the internal and external independence of the Polish–Lithuanian C ...

, later commanding a corps guarding the borders with Sweden. Promoted yet again to full General in 1780, he would serve as commander of the Russian 3rd Division in the

Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792) The Russo-Turkish War of 1787–1792 involved an unsuccessful attempt by the Ottoman Empire to regain lands lost to the Russian Empire in the course of the previous Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774). It took place concomitantly with the Austro-T ...

. Elmpt's tense relationship with his Austrian counterpart General Gabriel von Splényi created problems in the military operations between the two armies. Rumyantsev intervened and made Elmpt give command of his division over to Major General

Ernst Salignac Ernst is both a surname and a given name, the German, Dutch, and Scandinavian form of Ernest. Notable people with the name include: Surname * Adolf Ernst (1832–1899) German botanist known by the author abbreviation "Ernst" * Anton Ernst (born ...

. Elmpt returned to

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 ...

claiming poor health. In 1790 Elmpt was rewarded with the dignity of a ''Reichsgraf'' (

Imperial Count Imperial Count (, ) was a title in the Holy Roman Empire. During the medieval era, it was used exclusively to designate the holder of an imperial county, that is, a fief held directly ( immediately) from the emperor, rather than from a prince wh ...

) of the Holy Roman Empire, an honor that was confirmed in the Russian peerage in December of that same year. With the ascension of Tsar Paul, Elmpt found his military career revived. He was given command of all army forces stationed in the Livonian Military Division based out of Riga, his rank was adjusted to that of General of Infantry, and he was given the honorary position of Chief of the prestigious Saint Petersburg Grenadier Regiment, rechristened under his own name. On the day of Paul's formal coronation (5 April 1797), Elmpt was awarded the dual high honors of the

Order of St. 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 ...

and promotion to the rank of Field Marshal. On 10 January 1798 Field Marshal Elmpt was discharged from military service due to his advanced age, but was permitted the privilege to continue to wear his army uniform in public. He died four years later at Svitene Manor on his estate in what is today southern

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

. His son Philipp was bethrothed to

Suvorov Count Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov-Rymniksky, Prince of Italy () was a Russian general and military theorist in the service of the Russian Empire. Born in Moscow, he studied military history as a young boy and joined the Imperial Russian ...

's only daughter Natalie; but she broke off the engagement. As Philipp had no male issue, the title of Count von Elmpt was inherited by his son-in-law

Joseph Carl von Anrep Joseph Carl von Anrep (; 6 February 1798 – 28 June 1860) was a Baltic German general during the Crimean War. He was a member of the Russian branch of the Anrep family, the son of Heinrich Reinhold von Anrep, a general of the Russian cavalry d ...

References

*Бантыш-Каменский, Д. Н. 34-й Генералъ-Фельдмаршалъ Графъ Иванъ Карповичъ Эльмтъ // Биографии российских генералиссимусов и генерал-фельдмаршалов. В 4-х частях. Репринтное воспроизведение издания 1840 года. Часть 1–2. — М.: Культура, 1991. — 620 с. — . *При написании этой статьи использовался материал из Русского биографического словаря А. А. Половцова (1896—1918). {{DEFAULTSORT:Elmpt, Ivan Karpovich Date of birth missing 1725 births 1802 deaths Emigrants from the Kingdom of Prussia Immigrants to the Russian Empire 18th-century French military personnel Counts of the Holy Roman Empire Field marshals of the Russian Empire Barons in the Holy Roman Empire People from Kleve Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 1st class Russo-Turkish wars Russian military personnel of the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878) Russian military personnel of the Seven Years' War 18th-century nobility from the Russian Empire Russian people of the Bar Confederation