Nikolay Kamensky
Count Nikolay Mikhailovich Kamensky | |
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| Born | 27 December 1776 |
| Died | 4 May 1811(aged 34) Odessa,Russian Empire(today Odesa, Ukraine) |
| Allegiance |  Russian Empire |
| Service/ | Imperial Russian Army |
| Years of service | 1787–1811 |
| Rank | General of the Infantry |
| Battles/wars | Russo-Turkish War of 1787–1792 French Revolutionary Wars |
| Awards | Order of St. Andrew Order of St. George Order of St. Vladimir |
| Relations | Mikhail Kamensky(father) Sergei Kamensky(brother) |
CountNikolay Mikhailovich Kamensky(Russian:Николай Михайлович Каменский;27 December 1776 – 4 May 1811) was aRussiangeneral who outlived his father,Field MarshalMikhail Kamensky,by two years.
Life and career
[edit]Nikolay and his elder brotherSergeiwere educated at acadetschool. In 1787, he was appointed Aide-de-camp to his father. He participated in theRusso-Turkish War of 1787–1792.French count Louis Langeron, who fought on the Russian Army during this conflict, wrote in his memoirs about Kamensky's behavior during the war. According to him, after being upset by a storm that affected his army, Kamensky took all theTatarprisoners his army had captured and beheaded them. Later, aJewishperson was tied naked to a post and cold water was sprayed on him, leaving him to freeze to death. Kamensky would later have burned down an entire village and left its inhabitants in the snow to die of cold and hunger, then taking all the surviving animals with his army.[1]
Emperor Paulpromoted him to Major General in 1799, the year when Kamensky chose to joinSuvorovduring theSwiss CampaignagainstNapoleon.
In theBattle of AusterlitzKamensky, subordinate toPeter Bagration,lost 1,600 men and barely managed to escape alive. He distinguished himself atEylau,for which he received theOrder of Saint George.Thereupon he was sent with 8,000 soldiers to relieve thesiege of Danzigbut failed in his objective, losing as many as 1,500 men in the process. The followingBattle of Heilsbergcost the lives of 1,700 soldiers under his command.
By the time theFinnish War— the most brilliant campaign of his career — broke out in 1808, Kamensky had a reputation for being reckless with his soldiers' lives. However, he was promoted to Full General in 1809 and achieved important successes against theSwedesatKuortaneandOravais.It was he who came up with a daring plan of the Russian infantry's crossing the frozenGulf of BothniafromFinlandtowardsUmeåandÅland,which forcedSwedento cedeFinlandtoTsar Alexander.
The war in the north over, Kamensky succeeded Bagration in charge of theDanube Army,which operated against the Turks in theRusso-Turkish War (1806–1812).Accompanied by his elder brother, Kamensky stormedSilistraandPazardzhikbut failed to takeShumenand, initially,Rousse.They together defeated a Turkish force of 40,000 at theBattle of Batinon 9 September 1810.
On 26 October 1810, he roundly defeated a 40,000-strong army of Osman Pasha atVidin.The Russians lost only 1,500 men, compared with losses of 10,000 for their opponents.
On 4 February 1811, Kamensky caught fever and was transported toOdessafor convalescence, leavingLouis Alexandre Andrault de Langeronin command. He died three months later at the age of 34. Kamensky is related to actressHelen Mirren,whose great-great-great-great-grandfather was his father.
References
[edit]- ^Langeron, Louis (1902).Mémoires de Langeron: général d'infanterie dans l'armée russe(in French).
- Залесский К.А. Наполеоновские войны 1799-1815. Биографический энциклопедический словарь, Москва, 2003.
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