Dmitri Sergejewitsch Dochturow

Dmitri Sergejewitsch Dochturow

Dmitry Dokhturov ( Russian Дмитрий Сергеевич Дохтуров ; scientific transliteration Dmitrij Sergeevič Dochturov * October 15 ^jul. / 26. October  1756 ^greg. In Krutoje , Tula Governorate , † November 14 ^jul. / 26. November  1816 ^greg. In Moscow ) was a general in the Russian Army during the Napoleonic Wars.

Life

Dochturow was one of the most popular Russian generals at the beginning of the Napoleonic Wars. His father Sergei Petrovich Dochturow brought the son to St. Petersburg in January 1771 and appealed to earlier colleagues to take the boy into the military. On February 1, 1771, Dmitri was accepted into the tsarina's page corps and quickly distinguished himself through efficiency and hard work. In the spring of 1781 he joined the Preobrazhensky Regiment as a lieutenant . In 1784 Empress Catherine II appointed him adjutant general to Prince Potemkin, who quickly recognized wicked wicked military abilities, whereupon he was promoted to captain . From May 1789, Dochturow was deployed in Kronstadt , where several regiments of guards manned a rowing flotilla and on August 13, 1789, under the leadership of the Prince of Nassau-Siegen, they won a victory over the Swedish fleet. Dochturow also took part in a landing in Vyborg Bay during the campaign of 1790 , where the Swedish fleet was struck again on June 21 and 22. On November 2, 1797 he was promoted to major general and on October 24, 1799 to lieutenant general. From July 30, 1801 he was commander of the Olonetz Musketeer Regiment and on January 26, 1803 he took over the Moscow Grenadier Regiment.

In the campaign of 1805 he led the first (Russian) column on the left wing under Kutuzov in the battle of Austerlitz . After the defeat, he saved the remains (about 8,000 men) from destruction by leading them back through the enemy lines, leaving all artillery behind. In the campaigns of 1806/07 he took part in the battles at Gołymin, Prussian Eylau and Friedland . In 1810 he was promoted to general of the infantry .

In the Russian campaign of 1812 he commanded the Russian VI. Corps in the 1st Western Army under Barclay de Tolly . On July 22nd, the armies of Barclay and Bagration united and took part in the fighting for Smolensk . On September 7th, Dochturow commanded the Russian center near Borodino and took over the left wing after Bagration's death. During the Battle of Maloyaroslavz , he and his corps attacked the French army withdrawing from Moscow on the orders of Prince Kutuzov. He met on October 12th ^Jul. / October 24,  1812 ^greg. to the 4th Corps under Eugène de Beauharnais , which consisted largely of Italian troops. The battle raged back and forth throughout the day. Dochturow was able to maintain a strong position in the south of Malojaroslawez and prevent the French from marching on to Kaluga .

Dochturow distinguished himself in the battle of Dresden and the Battle of Leipzig in the war year 1813 , after which his troops took part in the siege of Magdeburg (late October - mid-November 1813) and the liberation of Hamburg (January - May 1814). During the second campaign to France (1815) he commanded the right wing of the Russian army. In January 1816 he withdrew due to illness and died in November of the same year.

Since 1936 there has been a Dochturowweg in Leipzig , which commemorates the general.

literature

• Отечественная война 1812 года : Биографический словарь. -: Росвоенцентр; Кучково поле; Росспэн, Moskwa 2011, p. 116 (Russian) ISBN 978-5-9950-0171-3