One of the most interesting figures of the Patriotic War of 1812 is Matvey Platov, the chieftain of the Don Cossack army. He was a rather unusual and interesting person. In addition to World War II, ataman Platov participated in many other battles. The biography of this person will be the subject of our discussion.
Youth
The future chieftain Matvey Ivanovich Platov was born in August 1751 in Cherkassk, which at that time was the capital of the Don Army. His father, Ivan Fedorovich, belonged to the estate of the Cossack foreman, and his mother, Anna Illarionovna (b. 1733), was a faithful companion of life to her husband.
In addition to Matvey, the family had three more children, all of them males: Andrei, Stefan and Peter.
There was no doubt what path of activity the future chieftain M.I. Platov would choose. Of course, the son of a Cossack could only be a Cossack.
At the age of fifteen, Matvey entered the service at the office of the Don Army, while having the rank of officer. Three years later he received the following title - Yesaul.
Even then, Platov established himself as a person responsibly approaching any business.
On the battlefields
The future chieftain Matvey Platov took part in the Russian-Turkish war of 1768-1774. In 1771, he participated in the attack on the Perekop line and Kinburn, where he distinguished himself. A year later, he was already entrusted with commanding the regiment of the Don Army. In 1774, Matvey Ivanovich went to the Caucasian Front, where he participated in the suppression of the uprising of the Highlanders in the Kuban, who supported the Ottoman Empire.
After the end of the Russian-Turkish war in 1775, M. Platov took part in the suppression of the Pugachev riot. In the subsequent period he returned to the North Caucasus, where in 1782-1784 he fought with the rebelled Lezghins, Nogais and Chechens.
In the next Russo-Turkish war (1787-1791), Platov also took the most active work. With his participation, storms of fortresses such as Ochakov (1788), Ackerman (1789), Bender (1789), Ishmael (1790) were held. In 1789, he also fought in the ranks of the Russian army in the battle of Causeni.
His exploits on the military fields did not go unnoticed. Since 1790, Platov was the chieftain of the Chuguevsky and Yekaterinoslav regiments, and in 1793 he received the rank of major general.
In 1796, Matvey Ivanovich took part in the Persian campaign, which, however, was soon canceled.
Opal
Not only joys knew M.I. Platov. Ataman was suspected by Emperor Paul in a conspiracy against him and exiled to Kostroma. It happened in 1797. After some time, he was transferred to the Peter and Paul Fortress, which meant even worse guilt.
Platovās opal lasted until 1801, when Paul decided to release him from prison so that the ataman would take part in the upcoming Indian campaign. However, the adventurism of this plan, as well as the death of the emperor did not allow the plan to materialize.
Led by the Don Army
The son of Paul Alexander I, who after the death of his father became the Russian emperor, patronized Matvey Ivanovich. Since 1801, Platov is the ataman of the Don Army. This meant that from that moment he became the leader of the entire Don Cossacks. In addition, Matvey Ivanovich received the rank of lieutenant general.
The new position provided for an even greater level of responsibility to the emperor and the state. Of course, the burden of responsibility could break any person, but Platov was not such a person. Ataman reorganized the Don Army, the structure of which until then was very disordered. In addition, in 1805 Platov founded the new capital of the Don Cossacks - Novocherkassk.
War against napoleon
The Cossacks of Ataman Platov, led by their commander, took part in the war of the Fourth Coalition against Napoleon. The fighting took place mainly in the kingdom of Prussia.
Platov personally commanded his squad at the Battle of Preisis Eilau, after which he gained worldwide fame. His Cossacks acted atypically for battles of that period, which puzzled the enemy to a large extent. They used guerrilla warfare tactics, making quick attacks on the flanks of the enemy and causing him significant damage.
After the signing of the Tilsit Peace Treaty between Russia and France in 1807, Napoleon personally noted the merits of Platov. He handed him a valuable snuffbox. Also, the Order of the Legion of Honor was to be awarded Platov. Ataman refused this honor, arguing that he could not serve a foreign sovereign.
One of the significant companies of that period should be called the Russian-Turkish war of 1806-1812, in which the Cossack detachment of Platov also acted successfully. Then he received a new rank - a general from the cavalry.
Patriotic War
But the greatest trace in the biography of Platov was left by the Patriotic War of 1812 with Napoleon.
At the beginning of the Napoleonic invasion, Platov directly commanded all Cossack troops, but then the situation forced him to lead individual detachments. As in the previous campaign against Napoleon, the actions of the Cossacks of Platov, because of their suddenness, caused many problems to the enemy. It was Platovās detachments who managed to capture the French colonel, as well as seize the important papers of General Sebastiani.
The first successful battle against the Napoleonic troops Platov held in June near the village of Mir, where he defeated the detachment of General Rozhnetsky. After the battle of Saltykovka, the Cossacks covered up the retreat of General Bagration, and after the battle of Smolensk, Platov assumed command of the entire rearguard of the Russian troops, who continued to retreat.
But soon the situation changed. In August, at the request of the emperor, Commander-in-Chief Barclay de Toli, Platov was expelled from the army. According to official papers, "for lack of order." But, according to authoritative sources, the main reason for the removal of Platov was his increased craving for alcohol.
However, Platov soon returned and participated in the battle of Borodino, as well as in the council at Fili. Moreover, at this meeting he opposed the retreat from Moscow.
When Napoleonās army began to leave Russia, it was Platov who led its pursuit. According to the leadership, his mobile units could inflict maximum damage to the enemy.
Foreign campaign and the image of the Cossacks in European culture
Platovās detachments, which by that time had received the count title for their merits, were among the first to cross the borders of the Russian Empire at the Neman and began to pursue Napoleonās army already outside the country. They began the siege of Danzig, in which General MacDonald settled.
After the chieftain M. Platov was mainly at the Emperorās main apartment, although the Cossack units continued to act just as effectively in pursuit of the enemy. Sometimes Matvey Ivanovich was assigned command of individual units. In particular, he led the unit in the battle of Leipzig, called the Battle of the Peoples.
Cossack detachments marched all over Europe, all the way to France, where Napoleon signed the surrender. Cossacks of Platov with their appearance, as well as with a lower level of discipline than regular army units, terrified not only enemy troops, but also ordinary Europeans. After this campaign, the image of the Russian Cossack became archetypal in European culture.
Ataman's death
Matvey Platov died in January 1818, in a village near Taganrog, on his native Don land, at the age of 66. So it did not become one of the most active personalities in the history of the Don Cossacks.
Platov was buried initially in Novocherkassk, but then a series of reburials followed. The tomb of the chieftain was desecrated by the Bolsheviks. In the end, in 1993, the remains of Matvey Platov were buried in the same place.
Family and descendants
Matvey Platov was twice married. His first marriage was combined with Nadezhda Stepanovna Efremova, who was the granddaughter of the ataman of the Don Army. In this marriage in 1777 the son Ivan was born, who, however, died back in 1806, long before the death of his father. Soon after the birth of her son, in 1783, Nadezhda Stepanovna also died.
The second marriage of Platov was combined with Martha Dmitrievna Martynova, for whom this was also the second marriage. She also came from a Cossack elder family. They had two sons (Matvey and Ivan) and four daughters (Martha, Anna, Maria, Alexandra).
Marfa Dmitrievna died at the end of 1812. After that, M. Platov lived in a civil marriage with a citizen of the British king Elizabeth.
The descendants of the ataman Platov, through his sons Matvey and Ivan, have count dignity.
Ataman Characteristic
Ataman Platov was a rather interesting person who gave a lot of energy to the service of the Motherland. His heroism is undoubtedly an example for posterity. It is also difficult to overestimate the contribution of Matvey Ivanovich to the formation from the irregular Don Cossacks of a really powerful fighting force that terrifies the enemy.
Of course, like any person, the legendary chieftain had his own shortcomings. To them, for example, can be attributed to excessive addiction to alcohol. Nevertheless, his positive qualities largely prevailed over vices.
As you can see, ataman Platov seems to be one of the most prominent figures of his time. Unfortunately, his photo is not available, since at the beginning of the 19th century the art of photography was not yet known to the world. Nevertheless, there are a fairly large number of portraits performed by talented artists who provide us with the opportunity to contemplate the image of the great chieftain.
One of these works is the posthumous portrait of Platov performed by the famous English artist of the time, George Dow. This picture is located above. Judging by the external features of the person imprinted on it, the chieftain Platov was a determined and strong-willed person. Thanks to such works, we can see what were the greatest historical figures of past centuries.