Suvorov, Aleksandr Vasilyevich, Graf Rimniksky, Knyaz Italiysky, Reichsgraf

▪ Russian military officer

Introduction

(Imperial Count)

born Nov. 24 [Nov. 13, old style], 1729, Moscow

died May 18 [May 6, O.S.], 1800, St. Petersburg, Russia

      Russian military commander notable for his achievements in the Russo-Turkish War of 1787–91 and in the French Revolutionary Wars. In 1789 he was created a Russian count and a count of the Holy Roman Empire; in 1799 he was created a Russian prince.

Early life and career

      Born in Moscow of a noble family, Suvorov was educated at home, joined the Semyonovsky Guards regiment at the age of 15, and was commissioned a lieutenant of infantry in 1754. Having gained varied experience during the Seven Years' War (1756–63), in 1763 he became colonel of the Suzdal Regiment, for which he wrote a comprehensive manual notable for its realistic emphasis on battle training at a time when the prevailing fashion was for parade-ground manoeuvres in the Prussian style.

      His successes during the Russo-Polish conflict of 1768–72 earned him a reputation as a self-willed subordinate and a boldly unorthodox tactician—a reputation that was confirmed when, in 1773, he joined Count P.A. Rumyantsev's army fighting the Turks on the Danube. His two successful descents on Turtukai, his brilliant defense of Hirsov, and, above all, his successful direction of the Battle of Kozludji (1774) showed him to be an incomparable commander of the field, but after he helped to suppress the Russian peasant revolt led by Yemelyan Pugachov (Pugachov, Yemelyan Ivanovich) in the same year and subsequent service in the Crimea, his career seemed to founder.

      A mission to Astrakhan to prepare an expedition into Persia proved abortive, and, even after he returned to a more active posting in the Caucasus in 1782, the establishment repeatedly passed him over. His marriage to Varvara Prozorovskaya, contracted 10 years before, broke down in 1784, Suvorov refusing to recognize her child, Arkady, as his son, though he remained devoted to his daughter, Natalya. Returning to St. Petersburg and the court, Suvorov felt consistently ill-at-ease—conscious of his scrawny appearance, rough manners, and inability, as he put it, to “endear myself to my superiors,” to which he attributed the slow progress of his career. But in 1787, after almost 15 years, he was at last promoted to the rank of general.

Victories over the Turks.

      In the Russo-Turkish War (Russo-Turkish wars) of 1787–91, he successfully defended Russian territory on the north shore of the Black Sea from Turkish attack. His victory over the Turks at Kinburn (October 1787) restored him to the limelight, and, though his alleged rashness and drunkenness at the siege of Ochakov, in 1788, earned him official displeasure and exclusion from fighting commands, in 1789 he was sent to Moldavia (in present Romania) to conduct joint operations with Russia's Austrian allies. The ensuing victories at Fokshany (now Foçsani, Rom.) and his brilliant and bloody storming of the stronghold of Ismail (1790) confirmed his popularity in the army, but his sense of frustration was revived when he was transferred to Finland in 1791. Hostile rumours circulated against him at court, and, as younger, less deserving men overtook him in rank, his embitterment deepened, and he became noticeably more eccentric.

      Then, in 1794 he was recalled to crush the nationalist-revolutionary movement in Poland—which he did with ruthless efficiency. The slaughter involved in his storming of the Warsaw suburb of Praga (which he justified as shortening the war and saving lives) shocked Western opinion, but it earned him a reward of 7,000 serfs and the promotion to field marshal he had long coveted.

      Subsequently appointed commander in chief of the southern army, Suvorov set about molding it according to principles he set out in his celebrated military treatise, Nauka pobezhdat (Science of Victory)—remarkable for its clipped, colloquial style, its novel emphasis on speed and mobility, and the use of the bayonet and accuracy of fire. But on the accession of the emperor Paul I (reigned 1796–1801), the old Prussian parade-ground emphasis was reimposed, and, refusing to hide his opposition to it, Suvorov was dismissed.

      Suspected of treason, he was kept under close surveillance, but a thorough investigation produced no evidence against him, and the Emperor restored him to favour. But Suvorov continued to show his dislike of the way the army was being managed and soon retired again.

Italian campaign.

      Fiercely antirevolutionary, he responded with enthusiasm when he was recalled in February 1799 to command a Russo-Austrian army against the French in northern Italy. A series of rapid victories (April–August 1799) resulted in his capturing Milan and almost completely expelling French forces from Italy. These successes made him a hero to those opposed to the French Revolution but also aroused Austrian misgivings about Russian ambitions in the west. Suvorov had wished to invade France but was ordered across the Alps to join a Russian force under Aleksandr Rimsky-Korsakov that was being threatened by the French in Switzerland.

      Fighting his way across the mountains, he reached Altdorf, only to hear that Korsakov had already been defeated and that the Austrian divisions in Switzerland, intended to support him, had retired. Surrounded by the enemy, short of ammunition and supplies, and with the first snows of winter falling, Suvorov set out to extract his army from an apparently hopeless position. Though old and sick, he succeeded in arousing his starving and dispirited troops, broke out to reach Glarus, and, repulsing a pursuing French force, succeeded in escaping with three quarters of his men, achieving one of the most remarkable exploits in the annals of war.

      Though disillusioned with the Austrians, Suvorov still envisaged fighting another campaign, but in January 1800, having been promoted to the unprecedented rank of generalissimo, he was recalled. He arrived at St. Petersburg, exhausted and gravely ill, only to find that, on account of a petty misdemeanour, the hero's welcome planned for him had been cancelled and he was excluded from the court. He died a few months later.

Philip Longworth

Additional Reading

Philip Longworth, The Art of Victory: The Life and Achievements of Generalissimo Suvorov (1729–1800) (1965), is the standard biography in English; G.P. Meshcheryakov (ed.), A.V. Suvorov: Dokumenty, 4 vol. (1949–53), is the fullest collection of documents on the subject.

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