Prince Mikhail Illarionovich Golenishchev-Kutuzov-Smolensky (Russian:Михаил Илларионович Голенищев-Кутузов-Смоленский;[a] 16 September [O.S. 5 September] 1745 – 28 April [O.S. 16 April] 1813)[1] was afield marshal of theRussian Empire. He served as a military officer and a diplomat under the reign of threeRomanov monarchs: EmpressCatherine II, and EmperorsPaul I andAlexander I. Kutuzov was shot in the head twice while fighting the Turks (1774 and 1788) and survived the serious injuries seemingly against all odds. He defeatedNapoleon as commander-in-chief usingattrition warfare in thePatriotic War of 1812. For theBattle of Krasnoi against Napoleon, Kutuzov (or more correctly Golenishchev-Kutuzov) received thevictory title ofSmolensky to add to his surname; the wordSmolensky literally means "ofSmolensk". Alexander I, the incumbentTsar during Napoleon's invasion, would write that he would be remembered amongst Europe's most famous commanders and that Russia would never forget his worthiness.[2]
Mikhail Kutuzov was born inSaint Petersburg on 16 September 1745.[3] His father, Lieutenant-GeneralIllarion Matveevich Kutuzov [ru] (1717–1784), had served for 30 years with the Corps of Engineers, had seen action against the Turks and served underPeter the Great. His mother was Anna IllarionovnaBeklemisheva (b. 1728), whose family was also part of theRussian nobility. Given his father's distinguished service and his mother's high birth, Kutuzov had contact with the imperial Romanov family from an early age.[4]
In 1757, at the age of 12, Kutuzov enteredan elite military-engineering school as a cadet private. He quickly became popular with his peers and teachers alike, proving himself to be highly intelligent, and showed bravery in his school's numerous horse-races. Kutuzov studied military and civil subjects there, learned to speakFrench,German andEnglish fluently, and later studiedPolish,Swedish, andTurkish; his linguistic skills served him well throughout his career. In October 1759, he became a corporal. In 1760, he became a mathematics instructor at the school.[3][5][6][7]
In 1762, Kutuzov, by then a captain, became part of the Astrakhan Infantry Regiment, which was commanded by ColonelAlexander Suvorov.[6] Kutuzov studied Suvorov's style of command and learned how to be a good commander in battle. Suvorov believed that an effective order should be simple, direct, and concise, and that a commander should care deeply about the health and training of his soldiers. Kutuzov also adopted Suvorov's conviction that a commander should lead his troops from the front (instead of from the rear) to provide an example of bravery for the troops to follow. Suvorov also taught Kutuzov the importance of developing close relationships with those under his command. Kutuzov followed this advice to the benefit of his career. This advice contributed to Kutuzov's appointment as Commander-in-Chief in 1812.[8]
Late in 1762, Kutuzov became aide-de-camp to the military governor ofReval, thePrince of Holstein-Beck, in which role he showed himself to be a capable politician. In 1768 Kutuzov fought in Poland, after the Polishszlachta—the Polish noble class—rebelled against Russian influence. In this conflict, Kutuzov captured several strong defensive positions, thereby proving his skill on the battlefield.[9]
In October 1768, theOttoman Empire declaredwar on the Russian EmpressCatherine the Great. Two years later, Kutuzov, now a major, joined the army of the soon-to-be-famous CountPyotr Rumyantsev in the south to fight against the Turks. Though Kutuzov served valiantly in this campaign, he did not receive any medals, as another officer reported to Rumyantsev that Kutuzov mocked Rumyantsev behind his back. Rumyantsev had Lieutenant-Colonel Kutuzov transferred into PrinceVasily Dolgorukov-Krymsky's Russian Second Army fighting the Turks and theTatars in theCrimea. During this campaign Kutuzov learned how to use the deadlyCossacklight cavalry, another skill which would prove useful in the defence of Russia against Napoleon's invading armies in 1812. In 1774 he was ordered to storm the well-defended town ofAlushta on the southern coast of the Crimean peninsula. When his troops' advance faltered, Kutuzov grabbed the fallen regimental standard and led the attack. While charging forward, he was shot in the left temple—an almost certainly fatal wound at the time.[10] The bullet went right through his head and exited near the right eye. However, Kutuzov slowly recovered, though frequently overcome by sharp pains and dizziness, and his right eye remained permanently twisted. He left the army later that year due to his wound.[9]
Kutuzov's pain did not subside, and so he decided to travel to Western Europe for better medical care. He arrived inBerlin in 1774, where he spent much time with KingFrederick the Great of Prussia, who took great interest in Kutuzov. They spent long periods of time discussing tactics, weaponry, and uniforms. Kutuzov then travelled toLeyden, Holland and toLondon in England for further treatment. In London Kutuzov first learned of theAmerican Revolutionary War. He would later study the evolution of American generalGeorge Washington's attrition campaign against the British. The American experience reinforced the lesson that Rumyantsev had already taught Kutuzov; that one does not need to win battles in order to win a war.[11]
Kutuzov returned to the Russian Army in 1776 and again served under Suvorov—in the Crimea—for the next six years. He learned that letting the common soldier use his natural intellect and initiative made for a more effective army. Suvorov also taught him how to use mobility in order to exploit the constantly changing situation on the battlefield. By 1782 Kutuzov had been promoted to brigadier general as Suvorov recognised Kutuzov's potential as a shrewd and intelligentleader. Indeed, Suvorov wrote that he would not even have to tell Kutuzov what needed to be done in order for him to carry out his objective. In 1788 Kutuzov was again wounded in the left temple, in almost exactly the same place as before, and again doctors feared for his life.[12] However, Kutuzov recovered, though his right eye was even more twisted than before and he had even worse head-pains.[13]
In 1784 he became a major general, in 1787governor-general of the Crimea; and under Suvorov, whose disciple he became, he won considerable distinction in theRusso-Turkish War (1787–1792), at thetaking of Ochakov,Odessa,Bender, andIzmail, and in the battles ofRymnik (1789) andMashin (July 1791). He became a lieutenant-general (March 1791) and successively occupied the positions of ambassador atIstanbul, commander of Russian forces in Finland,[14] commandant of the corps of cadets at Saint Petersburg, ambassador at Berlin, and governor-general of Saint Petersburg (1801–1802). In 1798 he became ageneral of the infantry.[15]
Kutuzov was a favourite of TsarPaul I (reigned 1796–1801), and after that emperor's murder he was temporarily out of favour with the new monarchAlexander I, though he remained loyal.
In 1805, Kutuzov commanded the Russian corps to opposeNapoleon's advance onVienna, but the Austrians werequickly defeated at Ulm in mid-October before they could meet up with their Russian allies.
Kutuzov was present at thebattle of Austerlitz on 2 December 1805. On the eve of battle, Kutuzov tried to convince the Allied generals of the necessity of waiting for reinforcements before facing Napoleon.[16] Alexander believed that waiting to engage Napoleon's forces would be seen as cowardly. Kutuzov quickly realised that he no longer had any power with Alexander and the Austrian chief of staff General-MajorFranz von Weyrother. When he asked Alexander where he planned to move a unit of troops, he was told "That's none of your business."[17] Though Alexander's orders made it clear that the Russians should move off the strategic Pratzen Plateau, Kutuzov stalled for as long as possible as he recognised the advantage that Napoleon would gain from this high ground. Finally, Alexander forced Kutuzov to abandon the Plateau. Napoleon quickly seized the ridge and broke the Allied lines with his artillery which now commanded the battlefield from the Pratzen Plateau. The battle was lost, and over 27,000 Russian and Austrian soldiers became casualties. Kutuzov was put in charge of organising the army's retreat across Hungary and back into Russia as Alexander was overcome by grief.[18][19][20]
Kutuzov was then put in charge of the Russian army operating against the Turks in theRusso-Turkish War, 1806–1812. Understanding that his armies would be badly needed in the upcoming war with the French, he hastily brought the prolonged war to a victorious end (Battle of Slobozia), concluded the favourableTreaty of Bucharest, which stipulated the incorporation ofBessarabia into theRussian Empire, and earned the title ofgraf (1811).
When Napoleon invaded Russia in 1812,Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly (then Minister of War), with his army being outnumbered 2:1, chose to follow thescorched earth principle and retreat rather than to risk a major battle. His strategy aroused grudges among most of the generals and soldiers. As Alexander after theBattle of Smolensk had to choose a new general, there was only one choice: Kutuzov. He was popular among the troops mainly because he was Russian (most of the generals commanding Russian troops at that time were foreign), he was brave, had proven himself in battle, strongly believed in theRussian Orthodox Church, and he looked out for the troops' well-being. The nobles and clergy also regarded Kutuzov highly. Therefore, when Kutuzov was appointed commander-in-chief on the 17th and joined the army on 29 August 1812 atTsaryovo-Zaymishche,[21] Russians supported his appointment. Only Alexander, repulsed by Kutuzov's physique and irrationally holding him responsible for the defeat at Austerlitz, did not celebrate Kutuzov's commission.[22][23][24] The day before he left he met withMadame de Stael, a strong opponent of Napoleon.
Within a week Kutuzov decided to give major battle on the approaches to Moscow. He withdrew the troops still further to the east, deploying them for the upcoming battle.[21] Two huge armies clashed nearBorodino on 7 September 1812, involving nearly a quarter of a million soldiers, with a ratio about 1.1 French soldiers to 1 Russian soldier. The result of thebattle of Borodino was a kind ofpyrrhic victory for Napoleon, with near a third of the French army killed or wounded. Although the Russian losses were nearly 50% higher, the Russian army had not been destroyed.
On 10 September the main quarter of the Russian army was situated atBolshiye Vyazyomy.[25] Kutuzov settled in a manor on the high road to Moscow. The owner wasDmitry Golitsyn, who entered military service again. The next day September 11th [O.S. August 30th] 1812 Tsar Alexander signed a document that Kutuzov was promoted General Field Marshal, the highest military rank. Russian sources suggest Kutuzov wrote a number of orders and letters to Rostopchin, the Moscow military governor, about saving the city or the army.[26][27] On 12 September [O.S. 31 August] 1812, the main forces of Kutuzov departed from the village, nowGolitsyno and camped nearOdintsovo, 20 km to the west, followed byMortier andJoachim Murat's vanguard.[28] On Sunday afternoon the Russian militarycouncil at Fili discussed the risks and agreed to abandon Moscow without fighting.
This came at the price oflosing Moscow, whose population was evacuated. After a council at the village of Fili, Kutuzov withdrew to the rich southeast of Moscow. On 19 September Murat lost sight of Kutuzov who changed direction and turned west toPodolsk andTarutino where he would be more protected by the surrounding hills and the Nara river.[29][30][31] On 3 October Kutuzov and his entire staff arrived at Tarutino. He wanted to go even further in order to control the three-pronged roads fromObninsk toKaluga andMedyn, so that Napoleon could not turn south or southwest.
Kutuzov's food supplies and reinforcements were mostly coming up through Kaluga from the fertile and populous southern provinces, his new deployment gave him every opportunity to feed his men and horses and rebuild their strength. He refused to attack; he was happy for Napoleon to stay in Moscow for as long as possible, avoiding complicated movements and manoeuvres.[32][33]
Kutuzov avoided frontal battles involving large masses of troops in order to reinforce his Russian army and to wait therefor Napoleon's retreat.[34] This tactic was sharply criticised by Chief of StaffBennigsen and others, but also byEmperor Alexander (Barclay de Tolly interrupted his service for five months and settled inNizhny Novgorod[35][36]).[37] Each side avoided the other and seemed no longer to wish to get into a fight. On 5 October, on order of Napoleon, the French ambassadorJacques Lauriston left Moscow to meet Kutuzov at his headquarters near Tarutino. Kutuzov agreed to meet, despite the orders of the Tsar.[38] On 18 October, at dawn during breakfast, Murat's camp in a forest was surprised by an attack by forces led by Bennigsen, known asBattle of Winkovo. Bennigsen was supported by Kutuzov from his headquarters at distance. Bennigsen asked Kutuzov to provide troops for the pursuit. However, the General Field Marshal refused.[39] Napoleon's goal was to get around Kutuzov, but on the 24th he was stopped atMaloyaroslavets on his way to Medyn and forced to go north on the 26th.
After theBattle of Maloyaroslavets, fought with a 1:1 ratio of French and Russian soldiers, Napoleon decided to avoid a decisive battle and marched north viaMozhaisk toSmolensk into a higher probability of starvation, as it was the devastated route of his advance. The old general "escorted" Napoleon on the more southern roads but attacked him at theBattle of Vyazma, at theBattle of Krasnoi, fought with a ratio of 1 French soldier to 1.4 Russian soldiers, and at theBattle of Berezina, fought with a ratio of 1 French soldier to 1.75 Russian soldiers. In parallel Cossack bands and peasants assaulted isolated French units during their whole retreat. With Kutuzov's strategy ofattrition warfare, on 14 December the remainder of the French main army left Russia. The only remaining troops were the flanking forces (43,000 under Schwarzenberg, 23,000 under Macdonald), about 1,000 men of the Guard and about 40,000 stragglers. About 110,000 soldiers were all that were left of the 612,000 (including reinforcements) that had entered Russia.[40]
Charles Joseph Minard's famous graph showing the decreasing size of theGrande Armée as it marches to Moscow (brown line, from left to right) and back (black line, from right to left) with the size of the army equal to the width of the line. Temperature is plotted on the lower graph for the return journey (multiplyRéaumur temperatures by 1¼ to getCelsius, e.g. −30 °R = −37.5 °C). See alsoAttrition warfare against Napoleon.
Alexander I awarded Kutuzov thevictory title ofHis Serene HighnessKnyaz Golenischev-Kutuzov-Smolensky (Светлейший князь Голенищев-Кутузов-Смоленский, pre-1918: Свѣтлѣйшій князь Голенищевъ-Кутузовъ-Смоленскій; "Smolensky" means "of Smolensk") on 18 December [O.S. 6 December] 1812, for his victory at theBattle of Krasnoi atSmolensk in November 1812.[41]
1837 Russian monument to Kutuzov inSaint PetersburgKutuzov on a 1945 Soviet stamp
Early in 1813, Kutuzov fell ill, and he died on 28 April 1813 at Bunzlau, Silesia, then in theKingdom of Prussia, nowBolesławiec, Poland.[42] Memorials have been erected to him there, at thePoklonnaya Hill in Moscow and in front of theKazan Cathedral, Saint Petersburg, where he is buried, byBoris Orlovsky. He had five daughters with his spouse Princess Catherine Ilytchina Kutuzova née Bibikova (1754–1824); his only son Nicolay died ofsmallpox as an infant. As he had no male heir, his estates passed to theTolstoy family, as his eldest daughter, Princess Praskovya Kutuzova (1777–1844), had married Count Matvei Fyodorovich Tolstoy (1772–1815).
Today, Kutuzov is still held in high regard, alongside Barclay and his mentor Suvorov.[43]
Alexander Pushkin addressed the Field Marshal in the famous elegy on Kutuzov's sepulchre. The novelistLeo Tolstoy clearly idolised Kutuzov. In his influential 1869 novelWar and Peace, the elderly, sick Kutuzov plays a major role in the war sections. He is portrayed as a gentle spiritual man, far removed from the cold arrogance of Napoleon, but with a much clearer vision of the true nature of warfare.[44] Tolstoy wrote of Kutuzov's insight and the national sentiment, "... this sentiment elevated Kutuzov to the high pinnacle of humanity from which he, the general-in-chief, employed all his efforts, not to kill and exterminate men, but to save and have pity on them."[45]
Also, during World War II, one of the key strategic operations of theRed Army, theOrel Strategic Offensive Operation "Kutuzov" was named after the Field Marshal (Russian:Орловская Стратегическая Наступательная Операция Кутузов) (12 July – 18 August 1943).
No less than ten Russian towns have been named "Kutuzovo" during the Soviet era in honour of the general. Notable among them is the former German town ofSchirwindt (now Kutuzovo in theKrasnoznamensky District of theKaliningrad Oblast) – the first town in Germany proper that was reached by Soviet infantry in 1945. One of the largest prospekts ofMoscow,Kutuzovsky Prospekt, bears Kutuzov's name since 1952.
The monument to Kutuzov in the city ofBrody inWestern Ukraine was demolished in February 2014 as part of theEuromaidan demonstrations.[50] Due todecommunization policies (although Kutuzov is not related to communism, his image was used by the Soviets for propaganda purposes) the street named after Kutuzov in (Ukraine's capital)Kyiv was renamed afterOleksa Almaziv [uk;pl;ru] and a lane dedicated to his legacy was renamed afterYevhen Hutsalo (both) in 2016.[51]
The Russian national airlineAeroflot named one of its planes after Kutuzov.[52]
Alexander's sister: "theinaction of his army is the result of his laziness"[61]
Langeron: "No-one had more spirit but less character than Kutuzov. Nor could be found in an individual such a combination of address and shrewdness, of so few veritable talents and such immortality. A prodigious memory, highly educated, a rare amiability, pleasing and interesting conversation, good-naturedness (admittedly a little false but warm to those who preferred to be duped by it): such were Kutuzov's charms. Violent, an impropriety akin to that of a peasant when angry or when he deemed that the individual whom he was addressing mattered little, a baseness – often to the point of demeaning – towards individuals he believed to be in favour, an overwhelming laziness, an apathy that dominated everything, a most repulsive selfishness, a libertinism as contemptible as it was disgusting, little discretion when it came to acquiring money: such were the flaws of this same man."[62]
He studied in London theattrition warfare of the American colonies against Britain.
He became ambassador inConstantinople and survived his visit of the sultan'sharem.
He was a happy grandfather.
After his appointment in 1812 he went into a cathedral, bent his knees grunting from hisrheumatism, and prayed.
He was a member of the MoscowFreemason lodges "Sphinx" and "Three Banners".[66]
He was described to Napoleon as a cool and selfish calculator, dilatory, vindictive, artful, pliable, patient, preparing an implacable war with caressing attention.
Kutuzov reported to Alexander I that he had won the Battle of Borodino.[67]
The partisan leaderDenis Davydov reported to him in filthy peasant clothing.
He sobbed "Russia is saved" when he was informed that Napoleon had left Moscow.
Kutuzow said toRobert Wilson, "I am by no means sure that the total destruction of the Emperor Napoleon and his army would be such a benefit to the world; his succession would not fall to Russia or any other continental power, but to that which already commands the sea (i.e. Britain), and whose domination would then be intolerable."[68]
Philippe Paul, comte de Ségur, reported: ...emerging from the white ice-bound wilderness only 1,000 infantrymen under arms, 20,000 stragglers, dressed in rags, with bowed heads, dull eyes, ashen, cadaverous faces and long ice-stiffened beards. This was the Grande Armee...
^Adam, Albrecht (2005) [1990]. North, Jonathan (ed.).Napoleon's Army in Russia: The Illustrated Memoirs of Albrecht Adam, 1812. Pen & Sword Military. Translated by North, Jonathan (2nd ed.).Barnsley, England: Pen & Sword Books Limited.ISBN978-1-84415-161-5.
^Patriotic War of 1812 about the liberation campaigns of the Russian Army of 1813–1814. Sources. Monuments. Problems. Materials of the XXIII International Scientific Conference, 3–5 September 2019. Borodino, 2020. // S. Yu. Rychkov. The historical memory about the participants of the Borodino battle in the names of ships. Pp.302–329.
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