Alexander Mikhailovich Rimsky-Korsakov (Russian:Алекса́ндр Миха́йлович Ри́мский-Ко́рсаков; August 24, 1753 – May 25, 1840) was a Russiangeneral remembered as an unlucky assistant toAlexander Suvorov during hisSwiss expedition of 1799–1800.
Korsakov entered military service as a cadet in thePreobrazhensky Life Guards Regiment, and was appointed lieutenant colonel of theChernigov Musketeer Regiment at age 25. He fought in theRusso-Turkish War in 1788 and 1789, and in theRusso-Swedish War. He subsequently became a major-general of theSemenovsky Regiment of theLeib Guard and was assigned to accompany theCount of Artois toEngland. From there he went toFlanders as Russian observer to the army commanded byPrince Josias of Coburg. His account to the tsarina of theBattle of Fleurus (1794) won him favour; on returning toSt. Petersburg, he was dispatched to serve under CountValerian Zubov in anill-fated expedition against Persia, which EmperorPaul I recalled in 1799 in order to deal with theFrench Revolutionary Wars. In 1797, Korsakov was elevated to inspector general of Infantry, and the following year, general lieutenant.
In 1798, Paul I gave Korsakov command of an expeditionary force of 30,000 men sent to Germany to joinAustria in the fight against theFrench Republic. At the beginning of 1799, the force was diverted to drive the French out ofSwitzerland. LeavingRussia in May, Korsakov reachedStockach in 90 days. With 29,463 men, his command then marched toZürich to join up with the 25,000-man corps of Austrian generalFriedrich von Hotze. It was expected thatAlexander Suvorov's army would join them from Italy after marching through theAlps, but terrain and enemy action held up Suvorov's advance. In the meantime, Korsakov waited near Zurich in a relaxed state of over-confidence.[1] Taking full advantage of this, the French underAndré Masséna attacked on 25 September 1799, in theSecond Battle of Zürich, winning a signal victory and forcing Korsakov to withdraw rapidly toSchaffhausen, despite almost no pursuit by the French and orders from Suvorov for him to hold his ground. Korsakov then took up a position on the east of theRhine in the Dorflingen Camp (Dörflingen) between Schaffhausen andConstance, remaining there while Masséna was left free to deal with Suvorov. Hisleft underCondé was driven from Constance on 7 October, on the same day he advanced fromBüsingen against Schlatt, but was eventually driven back by Masséna, abandoning his hold on the left bank of the Rhine. He joined Suvorov’s survivors atLindau on 18 October, and was shortly after relieved of command. Soon after he was dismissed as colonel-in-chief of the Rostov Musketeer Regiment in disgrace. The combined army turned towardsBohemia, from where Paul I recalled the army back to Russia for the winter.
With the accession of EmperorAlexander I in 1801, Korsakov was re-appointed as a GvCcavalry general. He was Governor of Lithuania from 1806 to 1809, based atVilna, and again from April to June, 1812. On the approach of the French he was ordered to withdraw byBarclay de Tolly on 28 June, but returned to serve for a third term asGovernor-General of Lithuania from 8 December 1812 until 1830. During this time he ordered the reconstruction of theTuskulėnai Manor in Vilnius, where he lived. Recalled to St. Petersberg after thePolish insurrection of 1830–31, Korsakov was made member of theState Council of Imperial Russia. He died in 1840.[2]
