Konstantin Markovich Poltoratsky (; May 30, 1782 – March 15, 1858) was a Yaroslavl Military and Civil Governor (1830–1842),

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 ...

of the

Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army () was the army of the Russian Empire, active from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was organized into a standing army and a state militia. The standing army consisted of Regular army, regular troops and ...

, a participant of five wars, including 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 ...

Biography

Konstantin Markovich Poltoratsky was born on May 21, 1782 (according to other sources, on May 2 or 30). Father – Mark Fedorovich Poltoratsky, head of the Court Chapel. Mother – Agafokleya Aleksandrovna Shishkova, in marriage Poltoratskaya, the famous " Poltorachikha". Konstantin Markovich had many sisters and brothers, the daughter of one of them was

Anna Kern Anna Petrovna Kern (, (Полторацкая), name after second marriage: Markova-Vinogradskaya (Маркова-Виноградская); – ) was a Russian socialite and memoirist, notable as the addressee of a noted love poem written by ...

. At the age of 2 years, Constantine was enrolled in the

Semyonovsky Life Guards Regiment The Semyonovsky Lifeguard Regiment (, ) was one of the two oldest guard regiments of the Imperial Russian Army. The other one was the Preobrazhensky Regiment. In 2013, it was recreated for the Russian Armed Forces as a rifle regiment, its name ...

in the rank of Fourier. At the age of 15 he was promoted to ensign of his regiment. In 1802, serving as a regimental adjutant, he was implicated in the story of Lieutenant Alexei Shubin, who fabricated a conspiracy against the emperor that he had allegedly revealed in order to curry favor. Poltoratsky, believing Shubin (who shot himself in the Summer Garden), went to the palace at night and raised Alexander I. He took part in the

War of the Third Coalition The War of the Third Coalition () was a European conflict lasting from 1805 to 1806 and was the first conflict of the Napoleonic Wars. During the war, First French Empire, France and French client republic, its client states under Napoleon I an ...

and in the

War of the Fourth Coalition The War of the Fourth Coalition () was a war spanning 1806–1807 that saw a multinational coalition fight against Napoleon's First French Empire, French Empire, subsequently being defeated. The main coalition partners were Kingdom of Prussia, ...

. He proved himself in the

Battle of Austerlitz The Battle of Austerlitz (2 December 1805/11 Frimaire An XIV French Republican calendar, FRC), also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors, was one of the most important military engagements of the Napoleonic Wars. The battle occurred near t ...

(he was awarded the Order of Saint Anna, 4th class and promoted to '' stabs-kapitan'') and in 1807 in the

Battle of Heilsberg The Battle of Heilsberg took place on 10 June 1807 off the town of Heilsberg (now Lidzbark Warmiński), during the Napoleonic Wars. Overview On 24 May 1807, the Siege of Danzig ended when Prussian General Friedrich Adolf, Count von Kalckre ...

and

Battle of Friedland The Battle of Friedland (14 June 1807) was a major engagement of the Napoleonic Wars between the armies of the French Empire commanded by Napoleon I and the armies of the Russian Empire led by General Levin August von Bennigsen. Napoleon and t ...

, for which he was awarded the

Order of Saint Vladimir The Imperial Order of Saint Prince Vladimir () was an Imperial Russian order established on by Empress Catherine the Great, Catherine II in memory of the deeds of Vladimir I, Prince of Kiev, Saint Vladimir, the Grand Prince and the Baptizer of ...

, 4th class and promoted to captain. On May 20, 1808, he was promoted to colonel. In the Russo-Turkish War of 1806–1812, he took part in the Danube army, where he was seconded in 1810. He proved himself in Battle of Batin, during the siege and capture of Silistria. On May 15, 1811, he was appointed chief of the Nishloth Infantry Regiment. For the assault of Lovcha in 1811, he was awarded the Golden Sword "For Bravery". For the liberation of the village of Gromadi – Order of Saint Vladimir, 3rd class. From January 10, 1812, he was chief of the Tiflis Infantry Regiment, in February he was appointed commander, and from March 12, 1812, he was appointed Chief of the Nasheburg Infantry Regiment, which was part of the 1st Brigade of the 9th Infantry Division of the Corps of Eugene Markov of the 3rd Reserve Observational Army. As part of his regiment participated in the

. For the Battle of Kobrin and Battle of Gorodechno he was awarded the Order of Saint George, 4th class (November 22, 1812). For his distinction in the battle near Konigsvart on September 15, 1813, he was promoted to major general and was appointed brigade commander from the Apsheron and Nasheburg regiments. In 1813, he fought at the siege of the fortress of Thorn, in the

Battle of Leipzig The Battle of Leipzig, also known as the Battle of the Nations, was fought from 16 to 19 October 1813 at Leipzig, Saxony. The Coalition armies of Austria, Prussia, Sweden, and Russia, led by Tsar Alexander I, Karl von Schwarzenberg, and G ...

, for which he received the Order of Saint Anna, 1st class. In 1814, he participated in the battles of Brienne, La Rothière, and Champaubert, where he was wounded and taken prisoner by the French together with his corps commander General Zakhar Olsufiev. From captivity released after the capture of Paris. Returned to his brigade. July 29, 1817, he was appointed commander of the 3rd Brigade of the 23rd Infantry division. He continued his service in France as part of the corps of Mikhail Vorontsov until 1818. After returning to Russia, he was appointed commander of the 2nd brigade of the 9th Infantry Division. The officers and soldiers of the Nasheburgsky regiment, according to the memoirs of a contemporary, wept at parting with Poltoratsky, he deserved so much love and disposition of his subordinates. March 13, 1822, he was appointed to "patronize the army". On January 28, 1830, he was renamed as Privy Councillor and appointed as Yaroslavl Civil Governor. On February 18, 1835, he received the rank of

and was renamed as the Yaroslavl

Military Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' may ...

with civilian control. Made a lot of useful for the development of education and charity in the Yaroslavl Province. In 1842 he retired for health reasons. In last years he lived in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

, where he died on March 15, 1858, and was buried in the Coastal Monastery of Saint Sergius.

Family

*Wife – on August 18, 1818, in Pavlovsk, married Princess Sofya Borisovna Golitsyna (April 15, 1795 – November 19, 1871), daughter of Lieutenant-General Prince Boris Golitsyn; the maid of honor of the highest court and the cavalier lady of the

Order of Saint Catherine The Imperial Order of Saint Catherine () was an award of Imperial Russia. Instituted on 24 November 1714 by Peter the Great on the occasion of his marriage to Catherine I of Russia. For the majority of the time of Imperial Russia, it was the onl ...

of the Lesser Cross; for which he received a dowry of more than 1,000 souls of serfs in Kozelsky and Novotorzhsky counties. She was raised by a Frenchwoman from the retinue of the Duchess of Polignac. According to contemporaries, Madame Poltoratskaya was ''"definitely not beautiful, but pretty, she spoke well and courteously, which was already a charm"''. In her Yaroslavl parlor,

Marquis de Custine Astolphe-Louis-Léonor, Marquis de Custine (18 March 1790 – 25 September 1857) was a French aristocrat and writer who is best known for his travel writing, in particular his account of his visit to Russia, '' La Russie en 1839''. This work ...

, by his own admission, felt like "in London or rather in Petersburg". Widowed, she lived in the capital in the house of her sister, the famous philanthropist Tatiana Potemkina on Millionnaya Street, 22, where she died suddenly from cardiac arrest. Buried next to her husband in the Sergius Monastery. As noted by relative:Nina Kukuruzova. From Tatiana Yusupova's personal correspondence. – St. Petersburg: Yusupov Palace, 2012. – 191 p. *Son – Boris Konstantinovich (January 9, 1820 – February 10, 1850), the captain of the Life Guards Regiment of His Majesty, died unmarried.

References

Sources

Dictionary of Russian generals, participants in hostilities against the army of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1812 – 1815Konstantin Markovich Poltoratsky (Russian Biographical Dictionary)

External links

Poltoratsky family (Sytin's Military Encyclopedia)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Poltoratsky, Konstantin 1782 births 1858 deaths People from Chernigov Governorate

Konstantin The first name Konstantin () is a derivation from the Latin name '' Constantinus'' ( Constantine) in some European languages, such as Bulgarian, Russian, Estonian and German. As a Christian given name, it refers to the memory of the Roman empe ...

Russian untitled nobility Governors of Yaroslavl Governorate Imperial Russian lieutenant generals Russian commanders of the Napoleonic Wars Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Russia) Recipients of the Gold Sword for Bravery Recipients of the Order of St. George of the Fourth Degree Recipients of the Order of St. Vladimir, 2nd class Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 1st class Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 4th class Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (military class) Recipients of the Order of the Sword