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245th Birthday anniversary of Peter H. Wittgenstein, Russian Field Marshal General
6 (17) January 1769, in Pereslavl, Poltava Province, in the family of Lieutenant-General of the Russian service was born Peter Khristianovich Wittgenstein, Russian commander, Count, Field-Marshal (1826), His Serene Highness (1834).
Wittgenstein began serving in the Guard and at the age of 22 was promoted to the first officer rank of cornet, and in 1793, having the rank of Major-Prime, joined the Army, the Ukrainian cavalry regiment. The following year he became involved in military operations in Poland as a volunteer. For the battle near Ostrołenka he was granted his first combat award - the Order of St. George, 4th class: in command of a squadron, he attacked the enemy's battery, and stole its gun. Wittgenstein then participated in the storming of Prague, Warsaw suburb, under the command of the Russian General Alexander Suvorov, and after the war in Poland, he moved to the Caucasus, where Russia was at war with Persia. Here, in 1796, the young officer distinguished himself at the capture of Derbent and was sent to St. Petersburg with the news of the victory and with the keys of the fortress.
Under Emperor Paul I, Wittgenstein was promoted to major general (1799) and was appointed chief of Mariupol Hussars, but soon fell under the imperial anger and was dismissed. However, at the end of 1801, already under Alexander I, he was again enlisted in the army and was appointed commander of Yelizavetgrad Hussars.
In the campaign of 1805 Wittgenstein, commanding the cavalry detachment, participated in the battles that preceded the general battle of Austerlitz. In the rearguard combat of Amstetten, he acted under the command of General P. I. Bagration, and then – under General M. A. Miloradovich and repulsed several attacks of cavalry of Marshal I. Murat, for which he was awarded the Order of St. George, 3rd class. Wittgenstein has earned fame in the battle of Wischau, when, at the head of three regiments of light cavalry broke the French cavalry detachment, capturing over 400 prisoners. In 1806-1807 he fought against the Turks in Moldavia, and in East Prussia - against the French; was granted several military awards, the rank of lieutenant-general and was assigned Chief of the Life Guards Hussar Regiment.
When the Patriotic War of 1812 began, Wittgenstein was commander of the 1st Separate Infantry Corps, stationed on the right flank of the army of General M. B. Barclay de Tolly and covering the St. Petersburg sector. After Napoleon crossed the River Nieman, the corps of Wittgenstein, like the rest of the corps of the 1st Army, started to retreat from the western Russian border and by the end of June approached Drissa camp, where all the troops under Barclay concentrated. After leaving Drissa and advance of the Russian army further inland, the corps of Wittgenstein was left at the right bank of the Dvina River, near Drui.
Napoleon, having sent his main forces on the armies of Barclay and Bagration retreating towards Smolensk, moved in a northeasterly direction the Corps of Marshals N. Ch. Oudinot, E.-J.-G.-A. Macdonald and L. Saint-Cyr. It was them that Wittgenstein had to fight. The idea was that the marshals bypass the corps of Wittgenstein from the north and squeeze it to the left flank of the main forces of Napoleon's army, forcing it surrender. Having guessed the enemy's plan, Wittgenstein decided to go towards Oudinot and repulse him to Polotsk. In July, near the village of Klyastitsy took place a fierce battle in which the troops of Oudinot were defeated.
The impression of the victory at Klyastitsy in the Russian capital was enormous. This victory of Russian troops was the first major success, won in a time when the army of Bagration and Barclay continued to retreat, avoiding a decisive battle with the enemy’s superior forces. Wittgenstein was awarded the Order of St. George, 2nd class.
After fierce battles with the Corps of Oudinot and St. Cyr, by early October, the Russian general began the offensive and seized Polotsk by assault. In pursuit of the retreating enemy, his troops defeated the French marshals near Chashniki, and by the end of the month captured the Vitebsk. However, in a complex and rapidly changing situation at the River Berezina, Wittgenstein showed indecision and approached the place of the crossing, when the majority of Napoleon's troops had already moved to the other side of the river.
After the expulsion of Napoleon from Russia, Wittgenstein began to act on the right flank of the Russian armies. In late 1812 - early 1813 he led the hostilities of Russian troops in East Prussia. In 1813, troops under his command occupied Berlin, and after the death of Field Marshal Mikhail Kutuzov, Wittgenstein took his place of the Commander in Chief of the Allied Russian-Prussian Army in Germany. But in May 1813, after the failures near Lutzen and Bautzen, he asked to replace him with Barclay de Tolly. Later Wittgenstein commanded a corps, was seriously wounded at the battle of Bar-sur-Aube in 1814, but continued to lead the troops until the end of the battle.
Soon after the return of Russian troops to the homeland, Wittgenstein was appointed commander of the 2nd Army, stationed in the south of Russia, and in 1826 was promoted to field marshal. Two years later, due to the outbreak of war between Russia and Turkey, Wittgenstein, having been appointed commander of the European theater of operations, at the head of his army crossed over the River Prut and quickly occupied the Danubian principalities. But in February 1829, because of interference of other persons in the command of troops, as well as frustrated by reason of health, Field Marshal General filed a petition for his resignation.
In May 1834, King of Prussia, with the permission of the Russian emperor, raised Wittgenstein to prince.
May 30 (June 11), 1843 Peter Khristianovich Wittgenstein died and was buried in the estate of Kamenka, Olgopolsky County, Podolsk province.
Lit.: Бантыш-Каменский Д. Н. Биографии российских генералиссимусов и генерал-фельдмаршалов. М., 1991; Военные подвиги и анекдоты графа Петра Христиановича Витгенштейна, выбранные из достоверных источников и иностранных журналов. М., 1814; Глинка В. М., Помарнацкий А. В. Витгенштейн Пётр Христианович // Военная галерея Зимнего дворца. Л., 1981. С. 83—86; Ушаков С. И. Победы графа Петра Христиановича Витгенштейна, или Жизнь, свойства и военные деяния его. СПб., 1813-1815.
Based on the Presidential Library’s materials:
Доу Джордж. Портрет Петра Христиановича (Людвиг Адольф Петер) Витгенштейна (1768-1842) [Изоматериал];
Полевой Н. А. Витгенштейн Пётр Христианович // Русские полководцы, или Жизнь и подвиги российских полководцев от времен императора Петра Великого до царствования императора Николая I. СПб., 1845. С. 257-284.