 Kutuzov,
Mikhail Illarionovich (1745-1813), Russian prince and marshal who repelled
the invasion of Russia, by French Emperor Napoleon I in 1812. Kutuzov was
born in Saint Petersburg and graduated from the Dvoryanskaya Artillery
School in 1759. He was a mathematics instructor there before being promoted
to command the Astrakhan' Infantry. He fought in Poland and against the
Turks between 1764 and 1774, and by 1784 achieved the rank of major general.
After various diplomatic and administrative posts, he retired to his estate
in 1802. Recalled in 1805 to fight the French, Kutuzov defeated Napoleon's
field marshal ?douard Mortier at D?rnstein, Austria, in November 1805.
Following orders from Russian Emperor Alexander I and his Austrian advisors,
Kutuzov faced the French forces again one month later at the Battle of
Austerlitz and was defeated. During the Russo-Turkish Wars (1806-1812)
between the Ottoman Empire and Russia, Kutuzov surrounded and captured
the entire Turkish army in Bessarabia, a region making up most of present-day
Moldova. In 1812, when Napoleon I invaded Russia, Kutuzov was made a prince
as well as commander in chief of the Russian army, relieving Barclay de
Tolly of command after he failed to stop the invasion. He retreated before
Napoleon to preserve his army, but Russian public pressure forced the inconclusive
Battle of Borodino, near the village of the same name, about 110 km (about
70 mi) southwest of Moscow. Kutuzov lost half his army at Borodino. The
Russian army withdrew, and the French entered Moscow. The populace had
fled Moscow, and Russian patriots burned the city. The French army, facing
an early winter and running low on supplies, began leaving Moscow in October.
At the battle of Maloyaroslavets south of Moscow, Kutuzov blocked the French
retreat along the easier southern route, forcing them to return along a
path scorched by their own advance and destroying them without the need
for another costly battle. Kutuzov pursued them into Poland, and then Prussia,
where he died of disease at Bunzlau (present-day Boleslawice) in 1813.
"Kutuzov, Mikhail Illarionovich," Microsoft(R) Encarta(R) 97 Encyclopedia. (c) 1993-1996 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. |