Peter von der Pahlen

The title of this article is ambiguous. For another Russian general of the same name, see Peter Ludwig von der Pahlen (1745–1826).

Peter von der Pahlen

Count Peter Johann Christoph Petrowitsch von der Pahlen ( Russian Пётр Петрович Пален ; born August 24, 1777 in Saint Petersburg , † May 1, 1864 ) was a Russian general .

Family and origin

Peter was a member of a Courland line of the Counts von der Pahlen . His parents were the Russian Foreign Minister and Tsarist assassin Peter von der Pahlen (1745-1826) and Juliane, born op dem Hamme called Schoeppingk (1750-1814). The Russian cavalry general Paul von der Pahlen (1775–1834) and the Russian diplomat Friedrich von der Pahlen (1780–1863) were his brothers.

military service

At the age of 13, Pahlen was accepted into the guard regiment on horseback as a sergeant ( lieutenant ) in 1790 . In 1792 he was promoted to captaincy , he served in the Orenburg dragoon regiment , and in 1793 he was appointed lieutenant colonel and was employed as chief steward in the provision management.

In the years 1794 to 1798 Pahlen served with the Moscow Carabiniers, the Nizhgorod Dragoons and in the Tsar's life guard and then again in the guard regiment. In 1796 he took part in the Persian campaign, including the siege of Derbent fortress .

In October 1798, Pahlen resigned from the Russian army as a colonel , but was returned to service within a year as adjutant to his father, the general of the artillery, Count von Pahlen.

Participation in the campaign 1805-1806

In 1800 Pahlen became a major general in command of the Kargopol Dragoons and in 1801 of the Sumyer Hussar Regiment. Where in 1806 after the defeat of Jena and Auerstedt subsequent campaign Pahlen took with his regiment 1806/07 as leader of the advance guard of the army under the command of Bagration to the battles and skirmishes against Napoleon's troops in part. He distinguished himself in the battle of Lapotschin and carried out a surprise attack on Bernadotte's headquarters near Mohrungen , taking over 1,000 prisoners and plentiful booty. He also took part in the battles at Eylau and Friedland . During the peace negotiations in Tilsit , he and his unit stood on the eastern bank of the Memel .

Participation in the Russian campaign in 1812

From 1807 to 1812 Pahlen was stationed in Courland and Poland , and in 1810 he became a division commander.

In the 1812 campaign , Pahlen commanded a corps, reached Barclay de Tolly's army by forced marches , marched along the right-hand Dünaufer to Vitebsk , on July 25th defended the city until the afternoon and then burned the bridge over the Düna behind him to prevent that the Napoleonic troops cut Barcley de Tolly's army from Bagration's army . For this he was promoted to lieutenant general.

In August he led the rear guard and tried to bring the enemy to a standstill using delaying tactics .

Participation in the War of Liberation 1813–15

After a serious illness, Pahlen was not used again until the spring campaign of 1813 , distinguished himself in the battle near Königswartha and took part in the battle of Bautzen . He was injured in the head in the battle near Löwenberg , after recovering in Landeck he was with his corps on 29/30. Involved in the Battle of Kulm on August 16 and in the battle near Hellersdorf on September 16.

In October he drove the Poniatowskische Korps out of Altenburg , advanced to Cröbern on October 13 and was involved in the battle of the Wachau and Liebertwolkwitz at the opening of the Battle of Nations on October 14 . Together with General von Röder from the Kleist Corps in reserve , he succeeded in throwing the cavalry masses of Marshal Murat back to Probstheida . After the fighting broke off at 5 p.m., he retired to the Güldengossa position at the bivouac. On October 16, Pahlen commanded the entire cavalry of Count Wittgenstein and advanced to the right flank of Prince Eugene of Württemberg between Güldengossa and the university forest. From here he supported the attacks of Gorchakov and Klenau against Liebertwolkwitz and threw back individual enemy cavalry attacks near Wachau. In the afternoon he faced Murat's great cavalry attack in Güldengossa, and in the evening he took up position between Störmthal and the green pond. On October 18, at around 1 p.m., he carried out a large cavalry attack on the French rushing back from Zuckelhausen and Holzhausen to Stötteritz and took position from the Meusdorf sheep farm to Zuckelhausen. Pahlen was wounded in the shoulder during the fighting.

After the Battle of Leipzig, Pahlen also took part in the Battle of Hanau , crossed the Rhine at Fort Louis on January 3, 1814 , took part in France in the Battle of Brienne and the battles at Nogent and Mormant, where his regiments of Napoléon , who stood directly across from him were completely blown up and only 800 of his 2000 soldiers remained.

He was involved in the battles at Bar sur Aube , Arcis sur Aube , La Fere Champenoise and took part in the assault on Paris on March 30th . In 1815 he took over command of the 3rd and later the 4th Reserve Cavalry Corps.

Military career after 1815

Count Pahlen took leave of the army in 1823, but was put back into service by Tsar Nicholas I in 1827, promoted to general of the cavalry and appointed adjudant general to the tsar.

In 1828 and 1829 Pahlen took part in the campaign against the Turks as commander of the II Infantry Corps and in 1831 as commander of the I Infantry Corps in the suppression of the Polish uprising .

From 1845 to 1862 Pahlen was Inspector General of the entire cavalry . From 1853 until his death in 1864, Pahlen was chairman of the committee for the wounded.

Political career

In 1834 Pahlen became a member of the Imperial Council and the War Council and from 1835 to 1841 was sent to France as an ambassador .

Awards

Peter Graf von der Pahlen has received many honors and awards. He was a knight of the Russian Order of St. George II. Class and the Prussian Black Eagle Order .

Commemoration

The Pahlenweg in Leipzig was named in honor of the Russian cavalry general .

literature

• Hans Pohle: October 1813 - The Battle of Nations near Leipzig . edition d'histoire hans pohle, Leipzig 2003, ISBN 3-9808860-1-8 .

Web links

Commons : Peter von der Pahlen  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Baltic Historical Commission (ed.): Entry on Peter von der Pahlen. In: BBLD - Baltic Biographical Lexicon digital

Individual evidence

1. ↑ peter-hug.ch
2. ^ Oskar Stavenhagen (arrangement): Genealogical Handbook of the Courland Knights , Volume 1, Görlitz 1939, pp. 605-606.
3. ^ Genealogical handbook of the nobility. Volume GA IV, CA Starke-Verlag, Limburg 1962, p. 350.
4. ^ Genealogical handbook of the nobility. Volume GA IV, CA Starke-Verlag, Limburg 1962, p. 350.
5. ↑ leipzig-lexikon.de