Count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

Valentin Platonovich Musin-Pushkin (

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

: Граф Валенти́н Плато́нович Му́син-Пу́шкин; ) was a Russian military and government official who reached the rank of

field marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army (in countries without the rank of Generalissimo), and as such, few persons a ...

Biography

Scion of a large and distinguished noble family, Musin-Pushkin was the son of Count Platon Ivanovich (1698-1745) and Marfa Petrovna Cherkasskaya. His father had suffered under the reign of Empress

Anna Ioannovna Anna Ioannovna (; ), also russified as Anna Ivanovna and sometimes anglicized as Anne, served as regent of the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia from 1711 until 1730 and then ruled as Empress of Russia from 1730 to 1740. Much of her administratio ...

, having been falsely accused of disloyalty and underwent a long period of imprisonment and possible torture. Valentin enlisted into the Russian Imperial Guard in 1747 and would see service in 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 ...

, reaching the rank of 2nd major of the Horse Guards. He served as a member of the honor guard at the coronation 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 ...

, and in turn was given a high rank in the civil service and rewarded part of the estate that had been confiscated from his father, along with 600 souls to work on it. By 1769 he had been promoted to chamberlain. His military career was not neglected either. A colonel by 1765, he saw active service in the Russo-Turkish War of 1768–1774 under his Father-in-Law

General-in-chief General-in-chief has been a military rank or title in various armed forces around the world. France In France, general-in-chief () was first an informal title for the lieutenant-general commanding over other lieutenant-generals, or even for some ...

Vasily Dolgorukov, commander of the 2nd (Crimean) Field Army. Major General Musin-Pushkin was a leading participant in the storming of

Bendery Bender (, ) or Bendery (, ; ), also known as Tighina ( mo-Cyrl, Тигина, links=no), is a city within the internationally recognized borders of Moldova under ''de facto'' control of the unrecognized Transnistria, Pridnestrovian Moldavian Rep ...

in 1770, for which he was rewarded the

Order of St. George The Order of Saint George () is the highest military decoration of the Russian Federation. It was originally established on 26 November 1769 Julian (7 December 1769 Gregorian) as the highest military decoration of the Russian Empire for commiss ...

, 3rd class, the

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 lieutenant general. He would be further promoted in 1782 to full general, and made an adjutant general the following year. The General managed to secure his future political position by befriending Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich, the future

Paul of Russia Paul I (; – ) was Emperor of Russia from 1796 until his assassination in 1801. Paul remained overshadowed by his mother, Catherine the Great, for most of his life. He adopted the laws of succession to the Russian throne—rules that lasted ...

. This created some conflict with his relationship to Catherine, who had a troubled relationship regarding her son, but Musin-Pushkin managed to approach this issue with great tact and never compromised his personal obligations to the Empress. In 1786 he was awarded the Order of St. Andrew and made Vice-President of the War College, the commanding body of the Russian Imperial Army. By 1787 he had been made a member of Catherine's Council of Advisers. With the outbreak of the

Russo-Swedish War (1788–90) This is a list of wars between Russia, Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to th ...

, General Musin-Pushkin was made Chief Commander of the Russian forces, numbering some 15,000 men. By 1790, Catherine was disappointed with his performance and had him replaced as commander by Count Ivan Saltykov. Nevertheless, Musin-Pushkin continued to be showered with awards for his war service, including the

Gold Sword for Bravery The Gold Sword for Bravery () was a Russian award for bravery. It was set up with two grades on 27 July 1720 by Peter the Great, reclassified as a public order in 1807 and abolished in 1917. From 1913 to 1917 it was renamed the Saint George ...

, the Order of St. Vladimir, and Diamonds to his St. Andrew's Star. Under Paul, the Count was made chief of the

Chevalier Guard Regiment The Chevalier Guard Regiment () was a Russian heavy cavalry guard regiment, created in 1800 by the reformation of the Chevalier Guard corps, itself created in 1764 by Catherine the Great. As other Russian heavy cavalry guard regiments (the Life ...

and field marshal in 1797 but would see no further military service before his death seven years later. His remains were interred in

Simonov Monastery Simonov Monastery () in Moscow was established in 1370 by the monk Feodor, a nephew and disciple of St Sergius of Radonezh. It became one of the richest and most famous monasteries, comprising six major churches (often with multiple side chapels ...

. His marriage to Praskovya Dolgorukaya produced two children, Anastasia and Vasily. The latter would go on to have some success in the Diplomatic Corps during the first decades of the 19th century.

References

* Бантыш-Каменский, Д. Н. 35-й Генералъ-Фельдмаршалъ Графъ Валентинъ Платоновичь Мусинъ-Пушкинъ /
Биографии российских генералиссимусов и генерал-фельдмаршалов. В 4-х частях. Репринтное воспроизведение издания 1840 года. Часть 1–2
— М.: Культура, 1991. — 620 с. — . * {{DEFAULTSORT:Musin-Pushkin, Valentin Platonovich 1735 births 1804 deaths Field marshals of the Russian Empire Recipients of the Gold Sword for Bravery Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 1st class Recipients of the Order of St. George of the Third Degree Recipients of the Order of St. Vladimir, 1st class Russian military personnel of the Seven Years' War