Wilhelm von Fermor
Wilhelm Graf von Fermor ( Russian Виллим Виллимович Фермор , Willim Willimowitsch Fermor ; * 28 September July / 9 October 1702 greg. In Pskow ; † 8 February jul. / 19 February 1771 greg. In Nītaure ) was a general of russian army . He comes from an English - Baltic family.
He entered Russian military service in 1720 , distinguished himself as a major in the siege of Danzig and in 1736 against the Turks, became commander of Vyborg in January 1740 and as such took part in all events of the war in Finland . Promoted to lieutenant general in 1746 , he became chairman of the building chancellery and directed the construction of the imperial palace in Saint Petersburg .
In 1751 he was given general command of Saint Petersburg, Finland and the Novgorodian governorate; In 1756 he led a support corps as general en chief of the main army under Stepan Fjodorowitsch Apraxin , in 1758 received supreme command of the Russian army after the battle of Großjägersdorf , took Thorn and Elbing and was installed as governor general of Prussia. Advancing to the banks of the Oder , he besieged Küstrin when Frederick II attacked him on August 25, 1758 near Zorndorf and forced him to retreat to Poland and Prussia. Fermor himself fled the battlefield at the beginning of the battle, leaving the Russian army without a command, and did not return until the evening when he was notified of the Russian victory. Fermor attributed the victory and was raised to the rank of count by Empress Maria Theresa .
Soon, however, he withdrew to Poland, resigned his command of command and fought as a corps general under Saltykow in the battle of Kunersdorf . In 1760 he took over the command again for a short time when Saltykov was ill. Discharged after the death of Empress Elisabeth (1762), he was appointed Governor General of Smolensk and a member of the Senate by Catherine II , but in 1768 he retired to his estate in Nitau (today Nītaure in Latvia), where he died in 1771.
Web links
- Biography in Pierer's Universal-Lexikon, Volume 6. Altenburg 1858, p. 197
- Biography in Meyer's Großes Konversations-Lexikon, Volume 6. Leipzig 1906, pp. 432-433
- Article Wilhelm von Fermor in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia (BSE) , 3rd edition 1969–1978 (Russian)
- I. Afonin and A. Gubin: Russian governors of East Prussia , website of the city of Kaliningrad (Russian)
- Biography from IS Golitsyn: General Modern Military History (Russian)
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Fermor, Wilhelm von |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Fermor, Wilhelm Graf von; Фермор, Виллим Виллимович (Russian spelling) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | General of the Russian Army from an originally English family |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 9, 1702 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Pskov |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 19, 1771 |
| Place of death | Nītaure |