Among the figures of prominent people who have dedicated their lives to serving the Fatherland, the personality of Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov is of genuine interest. A man who managed not only to fight back, but also to defeat one of the greatest geniuses of military affairs, Napoleon Bonaparte, simply cannot but cause admiration and respect among posterity. For those who do not know who Kutuzov is, a brief biography of Field Marshal will be very useful and instructive.
Childhood and youth
Mikhail Kutuzov was born in the family of a military engineer. From an early age, the boy showed a craving for knowledge. His favorite pastimes were mathematics and foreign languages. Entering the Noble Artillery School, Kutuzov very quickly got used to it and soon became one of its best students. At the age of 16, Kutuzov began serving as adjutant to the Revelsk Governor-General. However, six months later, with the rank of ensign, he continued his career in active military service. Moving fast enough in the ranks, in 1864 Kutuzov, with the rank of captain, ended up in Poland.
Wound
Kutuzov, whose short biography is not able to contain all the dangerous moments of his life, in August 1774, in a battle with a Turkish landing near Alushta, he was seriously injured in the head. Doctors did not believe that Kutuzov could survive, but the young body soon recovered, and treatment in Austria, by personal order of Catherine II, restored the young man’s ability to serve the motherland. The second time Kutuzov was wounded in the head during the siege of Ishmael in 1788, where a bullet knocked out his eye.
Diplomatic activities
Kutuzov, whose brief biography also has little-known facts, was also a good diplomat. In 1793, he was appointed ambassador to Constantinople. In addition, he later commanded the ground forces in Finland, and in 1802 became governor-general of St. Petersburg.
Overseas campaign of 1805
Nominally leading the campaign of 1805, Kutuzov (a brief biography of Field Marshal contains such data) first came face to face with the military genius of Napoleon. It is not known how the war would end if Kutuzov really commanded the army, but the excessive ambitions of Alexander I led to the defeat and signing of the humiliating Tilsit Peace.
Turkish war of 1806-1812
In the midst of the war in 1809, Russian troops failed to take the Turkish Brailov fortress, which played a strategic role. Kutuzov was found guilty of the unsuccessful assault, and he was removed from the army.
War of 1812
After the unsuccessful start of the war, Alexander I was forced to appoint a new commander in chief of the Russian army. They became Mikhail Kutuzov. A brief biography of the commander indicates that this decision of the king was completely justified. Having given the French a general battle near Borodino, the Russian troops were forced to surrender the capital, Moscow. However, thanks to the plan precisely calculated by Kutuzov, the enemy was forced to retreat, and this retreat turned into a shameful flight.
Death of the commander
Pursuing the remains of Napoleon’s army on April 13, 1813 in the city of Bunzlau on the border of Poland and Germany, the Russian army suffered a great loss - the commander-in-chief Kutuzov Mikhail Illarionovich died. A brief biography of the commander suggests that the soldiers carried the coffin with the body of Field Marshal across the whole of Moscow. Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov was buried in the Kazan Cathedral in Moscow.