Alexander Ivanovich Chernyshev

Alexander Ivanovich Tschernyschow, portrait of George Dawe from the Military Gallery (Военная галерея) of the Winter Palace

Alexander chernyshyov (also: Czernicheff , Russian Александр Иванович Чернышёв / Aleksandr Ivanovich Chernyshev * December 30, 1785 ^{. Jul} / 10. January  1786 ^greg. In Moscow ; † June 8 ^jul. / 20th June  1857 ^greg. In Castellammare di Stabia in southern Italy), count from 1826, prince from 1841, was a Russian general , diplomat and statesman. He had a successful military career in which he distinguished himself in the Napoleonic Wars, but also took on important diplomatic tasks at a very young age. During the suppression and research of the Decembrist uprising in December 1825, he distinguished himself in the eyes of the new Tsar Nicholas and was then appointed to the Russian State Council , the highest political body in Russia of its time, in 1827 . From 1828 to 1852 he was de facto Russian Minister of War. In this position, he made significant reforms to the armed forces and doubled their peacetime strength. During his tenure he was particularly influential in the Caucasus War (1817–1864) . He is given considerable blame for the heavy losses of the Russian armed forces in the Crimean War (1853 to 1856) and its unfavorable outcome for Russia. He reached the height of his political influence when he became chairman of the State Council. He held this position from 1848 to 1856.

Origin and family

Tschernyschow was the son of the Russian Admiral General Count Ivan Grigoriewitsch Tschernyschow (1726–1797). His family origins offered him the best conditions for a military career. His father registered him with the Imperial Guard after he was born, and when he was 13 he joined the Chevalier Guard in 1802 .

His daughter Elisabeth Tschernyschjowa ( Russian Елизавета Александровна Чернышёва , born October 11, 1826, † February 11, 1902) was a student of Frédéric Chopin in Paris , who dedicated his Prelude in C sharp minor op. 45 to her in 1841 . On October 11, 1846 she married Lieutenant General Vladimir Baryatinsky (1817–1875).

Military career and work as a diplomat

In September 1804 Chernyshev was promoted to lieutenant. In this rank he took part in the battles of Wischau (Vyškov) and Austerlitz of the Third Coalition War (1805). During the Fourth Coalition War (1806/07) he fought near Heilsberg and Friedland .

In 1808, Tsar Alexander I sent Chernyshev to Napoleon as a personal messenger . Chernyshev reached Napoleon in Bayonne, where he was busy planning and carrying out the invasion of Spain . He succeeded in winning Napoleon's trust and establishing a direct connection between him and the Tsar. In the fifth coalition war (1809) between France and Austria he then took part in Napoleon's entourage in his headquarters.

In October 1809 he was promoted to captain of the Russian Imperial Guard, and in the following year 1810 to Colonel of the Guard.

From 1810 to the end of 1811 he served as Russia's military attaché in Paris. There he was successful in the secret service. When this was discovered, he was not allowed to return to Paris on the express instructions of Napoleon.

In the meantime, Chernyshev had succeeded in establishing contacts with Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte , the future King of Sweden, and his surroundings. Chernyshev succeeded in securing the neutrality of Sweden in 1812 during the Napoleonic campaign in Russia

During Napoleon's Russian campaign , Chernyshev was used several times as a courier between Tsar Alexander and the commander in chief of the Russian troops, Prince Kutuzov . In October 1812 he appeared when he destroyed French and Austrian depots in the Duchy of Warsaw with a small contingent of 7 squadrons of regular cavalry, 3 Cossack regiments and a regiment of Kalmucks , a total of 1,800 horsemen, but returned after a week Russia had to withdraw to escape persecution by the Austrians under Prince Schwarzenberg . In November 1812, Chernyshev and his horsemen moved behind enemy lines again to establish a connection with the Russian corps under Wittgenstein . He and his men succeeded in freeing the captured Russian general Ferdinand von Wintzingerode from French captivity.

In the same year Chernyshev was promoted to major general, and in November 1812 appointed adjutant general to the tsar.

In December 1812 and January 1813, Chernyshev moved with 11 Cossack regiments , a Bashkir regiment and a mounted battery, a total of 2000 horsemen, to East Prussia and successfully passed several battles with the withdrawing French troops. On February 14, 1813, the first Cossacks invaded Königsberg , on February 17, 1813, Tschernyschow united his horsemen in Wriezen, west of the Oder, which was still frozen, with the Tettenborn and Benckendorff Cossacks . On February 19, 1813, these 3,000 riders appeared at Strausberg . On February 20, 1813, they occupied Pankow and invaded Berlin under Tettenborn, where they kidnapped some French officers and caused such unrest throughout the day that the French occupation of the city until they voluntarily withdrew under Saint-Cyr on the morning of April 4 March 1813 had to bivouac on the street to protect himself from further attacks. On February 21, 1813, Tschernyschow withdrew with his riders to Oranienburg , from where they caused unrest in the area around Berlin.

On May 28, 1813, Tschernyschow crossed the Elbe with 1200 horsemen - mostly Cossacks - and 2 cannons at Ferchland to the west and arrived before Halberstadt on May 30, 1813 , where he was a Westphalian supply transport with guns and ammunition for the Napoleonic troops posed. After the Russians had succeeded in detonating several enemy powder wagons, in the ensuing confusion they were able to capture the entire transport train and bring the guns back across the Elbe with them.

An attempt started in June to occupy Leipzig together with General Michail Voronzow had to be broken off because the armistice of June 4, 1813 had been concluded in the meantime. From his quarters in Belzig his Cossacks were able to decide the Battle of Hagelberg in favor of Prussia on August 27, 1813 .

In September 1813 Tschernyschow crossed the Elbe near Aken with 2,300 riders and 6 guns. On September 27th he appeared in Helsa in the evening "In the white horse", the mayor describes him as a "beautiful, powerful man" and reports of "6000 Cossacks" passing through. On September 28th, 1813 he stood with his Troop in front of Kassel , then the capital of the Kingdom of Westphalia . But King Jérôme , Napoleon's brother, had fled the city the night before. A brief bombardment of Kassel was enough to bring the remaining French troops to surrender on September 30, 1813. But at the beginning of October 1813, Tschernyschow left Kassel again and the French returned, as did King Jérôme. They did not leave Kassel for good until after the Battle of the Nations near Leipzig.

In the same year 1813 Chernyshev was promoted to major general.

Even during the winter campaign of 1814, the Wars of Liberation (1813–1814), Chernyshev distinguished himself as the military leader of small, fast equestrian units. He was the first to occupy Soissons , which he had to give up after a few days.

Promoted to lieutenant general in March 1814 , Tschernyschow accompanied Tsar Alexander I as adjutant to the Congress of Vienna in 1814 and 1815 , and later to the Congress of Aachen and the Congress of Verona . In the meantime he was used on several diplomatic missions.

Acting as Minister of War and Chairman of the State Council

In 1819 Tschernyschow was appointed to a commission whose task it was to reform the military structure and leadership of the Don Cossacks . From 1821 to 1835 he chaired this commission.

As a general, he led a light cavalry division of the Imperial Guard from 1821. His proximity to the imperial court enabled him to enter into close relationships with the tsar's brother, Nicholas. When Nikolaus succeeded his unexpectedly deceased brother Alexander as Tsar Nicholas I in 1825, the Decembrist uprising took place in December 1825 , which was brutally suppressed in a very short time. Chernyshev was appointed to the criminal court by the tsar, which tried the Decembrists. Chernyschow was thus jointly responsible for the large number of death and banishment sentences.

The new tsar rewarded Chernyshev for his loyalty and servitude: in 1826 Chernyshev was raised to the rank of count , in 1827 appointed general of the cavalry and appointed to the State Council. In 1828 Tschernyschow became the acting minister of war and then from 1832 to 1852 Russian minister of war. Chernyshev used this position to make extensive changes in the Russian military system. Under his leadership, the first code of law for the Russian armed forces was drawn up. More important, however, was that in the 20 years under Chernyshev as Minister of War, the strength of the Russian armed forces almost doubled. However, this enormous expansion of the military apparatus was not accompanied by appropriate structural adjustments, in particular not in the logistics and medical services, nor was the equipment brought up to date. These deficiencies are seen today as one of the reasons for the disadvantageous performance of the Russian armed forces in the Crimean War (1853-1856) , which Chernyshev is to a large extent blamed.

Chernyshev personally influenced Russia's warfare in the Caucasus War (1817–1864) and therefore shares responsibility for the many atrocities of this war.

In 1841 he was given the dignity of prince by Tsar Nicholas I. In 1848 Chernyshev reached the height of his political influence when he was appointed by Nicholas I to chair the State Council and the Council of Ministers.

After the death of Nicholas I in 1855, Chernyshev was honorably dismissed from the State Council in 1856 by the new Tsar Alexander II . Torn by illness, Chernyshev withdrew to southern Italy, where he died in 1857.

Additions and explanations

1. ↑ See Wilhelm von Lenz , The great pianoforte virtuosos of our time from personal acquaintance. Liszt. - Chopin - Tausig. - Henselt , Berlin: Behr 1872, p. 39 ( digitized version )
2. ↑ This was a remarkable achievement in view of the Russo-Swedish War (1808–1809), which had only happened a few years ago .
3. ↑ Marshal Augereau , who had been in command in Berlin on February 20, 1813, left the city immediately and handed over command to Saint-Cyr
4. ↑ probably near Dessau ( Kochstedt )
5. ↑ Cf. Helsa municipal administration (ed.) (1977): Copy of the Helsa chronicle by Mayor Vogt (1773 - 1845). Issue of the Helsa History Society 1992. P. 11f. "General Czernitscheff was a handsome, powerful man; a Mameluk, whose face is still floating in front of my eyes, with his black, bristle hair, high, arched forehead, small black eyes that were closer to the nose than any other person, a blunt, short nose and a prominent chin. "
6. ↑ In 1853 the Russian army had 31,000 officers, 911,000 regular troops, 250,000 non-regular troops (Cossacks etc.). see. the relevant article in the Russian Wikipedia and the sources given there
7. ↑ cf. also the explanations under The Army in the Russian Empire
8. ↑ It should be noted, however, that Russia's opponents in this war also suffered from considerable supply problems and serious deficiencies in hygiene and sanitation

literature

• V. Besotosny: Otetschestvennaja woina 1812 goda: enziklopedija. Rosspen, Moscow 2004, ISBN 978-5-8243-0324-7 , pp. 772-773.
• Alexander Mikaberidze: The Russian Officer Corps of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars: 1792-1815. Savas Beatie, New York 2004, ISBN 1-932714-02-2 .
• Ludwig Häusser : German history from the death of Frederick the Great to the establishment of the German Confederation. Weidmann, Berlin 1863.
• Heinrich Ludwig Beitzke : History of the German wars of freedom in the years 1813 and 1814. Berlin 1855.
• Johann Sporschill: The great chronicle, history of the war of the allied Europe against Napoleon Bonaparte in the years 1813, 1814 and 1815. Volume 1, 1841.

predecessor	Office	successor
Vasily Levaschow	Chairman of the Imperial Russian State Council 1848–1856	Alexei Orlov