Count Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov-Rymniksky, Prince of Italy ( or 1730) was a Russian general and military theorist in the service of the Russian Empire.
Born in Moscow, he studied military history as a young boy and joined the Imperial Russian Army at the age of 17. Promoted to colonel in 1762 for his successes during the Seven Years' War, his victories during the War of the Bar Confederation included the capture of Kraków and victories at Orzechowo, Lanckorona, and Stołowicze. His reputation rose further when, in the Russo-Turkish War of 1768–1774, he captured Turtukaya twice and won a decisive victory at Kozludzha. After a period of little progress, he was promoted to general and led Russian forces in the Russo-Turkish War of 1787–1792, participating in the siege of Ochakov, as well as victories at Kinburn and Focșani.
Suvorov won a decisive victory at the Battle of Rymnik, and afterwards decisively defeated the Ottomans in the storming of Izmail. His victories at Focșani and Rymnik established him as the most brilliant general in Russia, if not in all of Europe. In 1794, he put down the Polish uprising, defeating them at the battle of Praga and elsewhere. After Catherine the Great died in 1796, her successor Paul I often quarrelled with Suvorov. After a period of ill-favour, Suvorov was recalled to a field marshal position at the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars. He was given command of the Austro-Russian army, and after a series of victories, such as the battle of the Trebbia, he captured Milan and Turin, and nearly erased all of Napoleon's Italian conquests of 1796–97. After an Austro-Russian army was defeated in Switzerland, Suvorov, ordered to reinforce them, was cut off by André Masséna and later surrounded in the Swiss Alps. Suvorov's successful extraction of the exhausted, ill-supplied, and heavily-outnumbered Russian army was rewarded by a promotion to generalissimo (). The most prominent battle was in the Muottental. According to one statement, Masséna himself would later confess that he would exchange all of his victories for Suvorov's passage of the Alps; as per another, Masséna said that he would never forgive him for the crossing accomplished by him in Switzerland. Suvorov died in 1800 of illness in Saint Petersburg. He was instrumental in expanding the Russian Empire, as his success ensured Russia's conquering of Kuban, Crimea, and New Russia.
He was one of the foremost generals in all of military history, and considered the greatest military commander in Russian history. Undefeated in major engagements, he has been described as the best general Republican France ever fought against, and noted as "one of those rare generals who were consistently successful despite suffering from considerable disadvantages and lack of support and resources." Suvorov was also admired by his soldiers throughout his whole military life, and was respected for his honest service and truthfulness.
Early life
Origins
Alexander Suvorov was born into a noble family originating from Novgorod at the Moscow mansion in Arbat, given as dowry from his maternal grandfather, . His father, , was a general-in-chief and a senator in the Governing Senate, and was credited with translating Vauban's works into Russian.
His mother, Avdotya Fedoseyevna (née Manukova), was the daughter of judge Fedosey Manukov, and is considered an ethnic Russian. However, the name Manuk or Manukyan points to an Armenian origin, and likely a russified Armenian root. According to a family legend his paternal ancestor named SuvorChamber's repository, 1857, v. 6, p. 3. had emigrated from Karelia, at the time ruled by the Swedish Empire, with his family in 1622 and enlisted at the Russian service to serve Tsar Michael Feodorovich (his descendants became Suvorovs).Mandich, Donald R. Russian Heraldry and Nobility, 1992, p. 271 Suvorov himself narrated for the record the historical account of his family to his aide, colonel Anthing, telling particularly that his Swedish-born ancestor was of noble descent, having engaged under the Russian banner in the wars against the Tatars and Poles. These exploits were rewarded by Tsars with lands and peasants. This version, however, was questioned recently by prominent Russian linguists, professors Nikolay Baskakov and , who pointed out that the word Suvorov more likely comes from the ancient Russian male name Suvor based on the adjective , an equivalent of , which means "severe" in Russian. Baskakov also pointed to the fact that the Suvorovs' family coat of arms lacks any Swedish symbols, implying its Russian origins.
Among the first of those who pointed to the Russian origin of the name were Empress Catherine II, who noted in a letter to Johann von Zimmerman in 1790: "It is beyond doubt that the name of the Suvorovs has long been noble, is Russian from time immemorial and resides in Russia", and Count Semyon Vorontsov in 1811, a person familiar with the Suvorovs.Осипов К. (И. М. Куперман). Александр Васильевич Суворов. Изд. 3-е, испр. М.: 1955. С. 3–5 Their views were supported by later historians: it was estimated that by 1699 there were at least 19 Russian landlord families of the same name in Russia, not counting their namesakes of lower status, and they all could not descend from a single foreigner who arrived only in 1622.
Moreover, genealogy studies indicated a Russian landowner named Suvor mentioned under the year 1498, whereas documents of the 16th century mention Vasily and Savely Suvorovs, with the last of them being a proven ancestor of General Alexander Suvorov. The Swedish version of Suvorov's genealogy had been debunked in the Genealogical collection of Russian noble families by V. Rummel and V. Golubtsov (1887) tracing Suvorov's ancestors from the 17th-century Tver gentry.В. Могильников. Новая версия происхождения полководца А. В. Суворова // Генеалогический вестник. №13, 2003. In 1756 Alexander Suvorov's first cousin, Sergey Ivanovich Suvorov, in his statement of background (skazka) for his son said that he did not have any proof of nobility; he started his genealogy from his great-grandfather, Grigory Ivanovich Suvorov, who served as a dvorovy boyar scion at Kashin.
Childhood
As a boy, Suvorov was a sickly child and his father assumed he would work in civil service as an adult. However, he proved to be an excellent learner, avidly studying mathematics, literature, philosophy, and geography, learning to read French, German, Polish, and Italian, and with his father's vast library devoted himself to intense study of military history, strategy, tactics, and several military authors including Plutarch, Quintus Curtius, Cornelius Nepos, Julius Caesar, and Charles XII. This also helped him develop a good understanding of engineering, siege warfare, artillery, and fortification. His father, however, insisted that he was unfit for military affairs. However, when Alexander was young, General Gannibal asked to speak to the child, and was so impressed with the boy that he persuaded the father to allow him to pursue the career of his choice.
Early career
First military experience
Suvorov entered the military in 1745 and served in the Semyonovsky Lifeguard Regiment for nine years. During this period he continued his studies attending classes at Cadet Corps of Land Forces. He spent most of his time in the barracks: the troops loved him, though everyone considered him eccentric. Besides, he was sent with diplomatic dispatches to Dresden and Vienna; to carry out these assignments on 16 March 1752, he received a diplomatic courier passport, signed by the Chancellor Count Alexey Bestuzhev-Ryumin. From 1756 to 1758 Alexander next worked on the College of War; from 1758 he was engaged in forming reserve units, and was commandant of Memel. Suvorov gained his first battle experience fighting against the Prussians during the Seven Years' and the Third Silesian wars (1756–1763). His first skirmish occurred on 25 July 1759 under Crossen, when Suvorov with a cavalry squadron attacked and routed Prussian dragoons;—he was serving in General-Major Mikhail Volkonsky's brigade. The following month Suvorov participated in the complete victory over Frederick the Great at the battle of Kunersdorf, after which the so-called Miracle of the House of Brandenburg happened.
At the time when Pyotr Semyonovich Saltykov, upon his Kunersdorf victory, remained unmoved and did not even send Cossacks to pursue the fleeing enemy, Suvorov said to William Fermor: "if I were commander-in-chief, I would go to Berlin right now". Fortunately for Frederick, he did not face Suvorov.
1761
Then, Alexander served under the command of General-Major . Suvorov successfully defended his positions at Reichenbach, but contrary to his future rules did not pursue the retreating enemy, if the only surviving account of this action is accurate. At the skirmish of Schweidnitz, in a third assault, Suvorov managed to take the hill occupied by the hussar picket; in this clash 60 Cossacks opposed 100 hussars. For another example, in the combat of Landsberg on 15 September 1761, his Cossack-hussar cavalry unit defeated 3 squadrons of the Prussian hussars. On leaving the Friedberg Forest, he hit General Platen's side units and took many prisoners. He also fought minor battles at Bunzelwitz, Birstein, Weisentine, Költsch, and seized the small fortified town of Golnau. After repeatedly distinguishing himself in battle Suvorov will become a colonel in 1762, aged around 33. Soon afterwards, following the capture of Golnau, he was given temporary command of the until the regimental commander recovered. Prussian observation detachments had spread far from Kolberg; Berg moved there in two columns, the left he led himself, and the right, which consisted of three Hussar, two Cossack, and Tver Dragoon regiments, he entrusted to Suvorov. In the village of Naugard the Prussians positioned themselves with 2 battalions of infantry and a weak dragoon regiment. Forming his unit in two lines, Suvorov began the attack. He felled the dragoons, struck one of the battalions, killed many on the spot and took at least a hundred prisoners. At Stargard, Suvorov attacked the rearguard of Platen, during which Suvorov cut into the enemy cavalry and infantry, and it was reported that "many were taken and beaten from the enemy". Suvorov managed to avoid heavy losses. All the battles described took place at the same time as the siege of Kolberg (1761) in Pomerania.
Freemasonry, Berlin
It is stated that Suvorov visited Prussian Masonic lodge. But it is doubtful that he himself was ever a Freemason. Just before his career in 1761, he took part in the raid on Berlin by Zakhar Chernyshev's forces (one year after the Kunersdorf). Suvorov took in a young boy, took care of him during the whole campaign, and on arrival at the quarters sent to the widow, the boy's mother, a letter reading:
"Dear mother, your little son is safe with me. If you want to leave him with me, he will not lack anything and I will take care of him as if he were my own son. If you wish to keep him with you, you can take him from here or write me where to send him."
Wars against Poland–Lithuania
Dissolution of the Bar Confederation (1768–1772)
Outbreak of war and setbacks