Prince barclay de tolly biography of mahatma

Wikimedia Commons Wikidata item. For the South Pacific island, see Raroia. This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Russian.

October Click [show] for important translation instructions. View a machine-translated version of the Russian article. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translateis a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia.

Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

The following year, he carried out successful operations in the Finnish War against Sweden. Barclay led a large number of Russian troops approximately km across the frozen Gulf of Bothnia in winter during a snowstorm. Barclay initiated a scorched earth policy from the beginning of the campaign, though this made him unpopular among Russians.

However, Kutuzov continued the same scorched earth retreat up to Moscow where the Battle of Borodino took place nearby. Barclay commanded the right wing and center of the Russian army for the battle. After Napoleon's retreat, the eventual success of Barclay's tactics made him a hero among Russians. He became Commander-in-Chief in after the battle of Bautzenreplacing Wittgenstein who had been appointed after Kutuzov's death early in and led the taking of Parisfor which he was made a Field Marshal.

His health later declined and he died on a visit to Germany in Their ancestor, Peter Barclay, belonged to the Towie or Tolly branch of the family and settled in Rostock in ; his son later moved to Riga in Livonia. The commonly accepted birth date of 27 December is actually the day of his baptism in the Lutheran church of the town of Zaumel. Michael Andreas's grandfather, Wilhelm Barclay de Tolly, served as the mayor of Riga, while his father served in the Russian army before being admitted into the ranks of the Russian nobility by the Tsar.

Fromthe young Barclay de Tolly grew up in St. Petersburg and was raised by his aunt. This was a common occurrence among the German Protestants, and it gave the young man an exposure to higher society unavailable in the Baltic provinces. The future field marshal started his active service in the Imperial Russian Army inand he would spend the rest of his life with the military.

Barclay was enlisted in the Pskov Carabineer Regiment on 13 Mayand he achieved the rank of a cornet by May During this campaign, he distinguished himself in the taking of Ochakov and Akkerman.

Prince barclay de tolly biography of mahatma

For his role in the capture of Ochakov, he was personally decorated by Prince Potemkin. Induring the Russo-Swedish War, he was transferred to the Finnish front. In that year, he was appointed commander of the Estland Jaeger Corps, and three years later commander of the 4th Jaeger Regiment, becoming its chief insoon after being promoted to general major for his service in Poland.

In the war of against Napoleon, Barclay took a distinguished part in the Battle of Pultusk December and was wounded at the Battle of Eylau 7 Februarywhere his conduct won him promotion to the rank of lieutenant general. A year later, he became Minister of War, retaining the post until During Napoleon's invasion of Russia inBarclay assumed the supreme command of the 1st Army of the West, the largest of the Russian armies facing Napoleon.

He used a strategy of retreat leaving behind scorched earth from the beginning of the campaign in order to draw the French supply lines deep into Russian territory and retreated to the village of Tsaryovo-Zaimishche between Moscow and Smolenskalthough some consider the strategy merely a confluence of diverse circumstances and not attributable to the will of one man.

Nevertheless, the Russians keenly opposed the appointment of a non-Russian as commander-in-chief. His rivals spread rumors of his being Napoleon's agent, and the populace condemned him as a coward. Barclay was forced by his subordinates and the Tsar to engage Napoleon at Smolensk 17—18 August Napoleon forced Barclay to retreat when he threatened Barclay's only escape route.

After the loss of the "Holy City" of Smolensk, the outcry of officers and civilians grew to a point where the Tsar could no longer ignore it. He appointed Kutuzovpreviously a general at the battle of Austerlitz, as the over-all commander of the Russian forces. Barclay remained General of the 1st Army of the West. Barclay commanded the right flank at the Battle of Borodino 7 September with great valour and presence of mind, and during the celebrated council at Fili advised Kutuzov to surrender unfortified Moscow to the enemy.

His illness made itself known at that time and he was forced to leave the army soon afterwards. After Napoleon was driven from Russia, the eventual success of Barclay's tactics made him a romantic heromisunderstood by his contemporaries and rejected by the court. His popularity soared, and his honour was restored by the tsar. Barclay was re-employed in the field and took part in the German Campaign of and the French Campaign ofwhich ended the War of the Sixth Coalition — After Kutuzov's death, he once again became commander-in-chief of the Russian forces at the Battle of Bautzen 21 Mayand in this capacity he served at Dresden 26—27 AugustKulm 29—30 August and Leipzig 16—19 October In the latter battle, he commanded a central part of the Allied forces so effectively that the tsar bestowed upon him the title of count.

Barclay took part in the invasion of France in and commanded the taking of Parisreceiving the baton of a Field Marshal in reward. In he again served as commander-in-chief of the Russian army, which after the Hundred Days occupied France, and he was made a prince at the close of the war. He was responsible for conceiving and carrying out the policy of retreat during the initial stages of the campaign, despite the bitter opposition of the majority of Russian officers notably Bagration and the public.

Under great public pressure he was disliked because of his supposed German originsAlexander eventually replaced Barclay with General Michael Kutusov in August Barclay commanded the right flank at the Battle of Borodino 7 September with great valour five horses were short under him. For his actions he received the Order of St George 2nd Class.

Retiring because of poor health and public pressure in Octoberhe returned to the army in becoming in May commander-in-chief of the Russo-Prussian forces. In the latter battle he commanded a central part of the Allied forces so effectively that the tsar bestowed upon him the title of count. Barclay took part in the campaign of France in and commanded the taking of Paris, receiving the baton of a Field Marshal in reward.