The difficult period for Russia at the end of the 18th and early 19th centuries opened a galaxy of outstanding commanders and admirals, but there are those whose glory in civil affairs is no less than the success of the military.
One of these people was Mikhail Semenovich Vorontsov. He was born on May 30, 1782, and spent his childhood in London. Father - Count Semyon Romanovich Vorontsov three years after the birth of his son was appointed Ambassador of Great Britain. In 1784, the wife of Count Vorontsov died of acute tuberculosis. The second time he never marries, devoting himself entirely to raising children: Mikhail and Catherine.
For his son, Semyon Romanovich personally compiled curricula, which included such subjects as languages, mathematics, history, natural sciences, fortification, architecture, music. As a result, Mikhail Vorontsov was fluent in 5 languages: Russian, French, English, Greek and Latin, he was versed in art and literature. Among other things, he attended parliamentary meetings and industrial enterprises with his father, and also visited Russian ships that entered British ports.
Another important element of Vorontsov Jr.'s education was craft. From childhood, he began to study carpentry, which remained his hobby until the end of his life.
By the age of four, Mikhail Semenovich was promoted to warrant officer of the Preobrazhensky regiment, in which he was enrolled in service as an infant. Such was the prevailing way of circumventing the service life established by Peter the Great for the nobility.
At the age of 19, Mikhail Semenovich received an excellent education and was promoted by Paul I to the chamberlain. However, Vorontsov Sr., knowing about the fickle character of the emperor, decides to postpone his son's trip to his homeland. Probably, the count, being an experienced politician, guessed how Paul's inconsistent behavior would soon end.
By the time of the accession of Alexander I, Mikhail Vorontsov was already in St. Petersburg, where he met the officers of the Preobrazhensky Life Guards Regiment. Here Vorontsov decides to devote himself to military affairs.
Portrait of Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov by George Doe. Military Gallery of the Winter Palace, State Hermitage (St. Petersburg)
The rank of chamberlain made it possible to enter military service with the rank of major general. But Mikhail Semenovich neglects this privilege and asks to enroll his army in the lowest rank. His request is fulfilled, and he becomes a lieutenant of the Preobrazhensky regiment.
Vorontsov was not attracted to carousing in the officers' company in the intervals between drills and shifts, and in 1803 he volunteered for the Transcaucasia to the army of Prince Tsitsianov. Having fully demonstrated his talents and personal courage, Mikhail Semyonovich is awarded the rank of captain, as well as the Orders of St. Anna 3rd degree and St. Vladimir and St. George 4th degree.
Since 1805, Voronov has been participating in the Napoleonic Wars. In September of the same year, he, as part of the army of Lieutenant General Count Tolstoy, blocks the Pomeranian fortress of Hameln. In 1806 he took part in the battle of Pultusk, and in 1807, as commander of the 1st battalion of the Preobrazhensky regiment, in the battle of Friedland.
After the conclusion of the Tilsit Peace Treaty, Vorontsov fights against the Turks. In 1809, the Narva regiment was subordinated. Participates in the storming of Bazardzhik, in the battle at Shumla. In the Balkans, where Vorontsov was sent in the fall of 1810, he took Plevna, Selvi and Lovcha.
In 1811, already under the command of Kutuzov, he distinguished himself in the battle of Ruschuk, for which he was awarded a golden saber with diamonds; in 4 battles near Kalaf and in the battle near Vidin.
The beginning of the war of 1812 meets with the 2nd army of Bagration, together with which he retreats to Smolensk. He takes part in the Battle of Smolensk then at Borodino.
In the Battle of Borodino, he is in command of the 2nd Combined Grenadier Division. The division took the first battle in clashes at Shevardino. Vorontsov's division, together with the 2nd Grenadier, counterattacked the French and drove them out of the occupied village. The battle for the Shevardian redoubts delayed the advance of the French and made it possible to strengthen the positions near the village of Semenovskoye, later called Bagration flushes.
Here Vorontsov's 2nd Combined Grenadier Division will take on the most powerful blow of the French. Against 8 thousand Russians, Bonaparte concentrated 8-9 divisions with a total strength of up to 40 thousand and about 200 guns. Vorontsov was seriously wounded, personally leading his grenadiers into a bayonet attack. The division was almost completely killed in the battle for the flush.
Later, when in one of the conversations they say that the division has disappeared from the field, Vorontsov will sadly correct: "The division has disappeared into the field."
The wounded count was taken to Moscow, the hospitals of which were overcrowded with the wounded. At the same time, the servants were engaged in saving the lordly property. The Vorontsovs' mansion before the arrival of Mikhail Semyonovich was no exception. The count ordered to free the carts and use them to transport the wounded to his estate. About 50 officers and more than 300 privates were treated there. Each recovered person was provided with clothes and 10 rubles for expenses.
Having barely recovered himself, Vorontsov returns to the service. He was appointed to command a separate flying detachment as part of Chichagov's army.
Vorontsov takes an active part in the foreign campaign of the Russian army. He fights in the "Battle of the Nations" near Leipzig, then in Craon he managed to withstand the superior forces of the French, which were led by Napoleon himself. A little later, during the storming of Paris, he occupied the outskirts of la Villette.
In 1815, Vorontsov was appointed commander of the occupation corps stationed in the French capital. Here a whole heap of administrative and organizational problems falls on him. However, Vorontsov successfully copes with them. For soldiers and officers, a kind of code of conduct has been developed that prohibits disrespectful treatment and corporal punishment in relation to soldiers. On the initiative of Vorontsov and on the basis of his own curriculum, schools for lower officers and soldiers are organized, where senior officers teach writing and grammar.
When Vorontsov's corps left France in 1818, he paid off all the debts for his officers, which they had done during their three years in Paris. According to some reports, Vorontsov sold the estate for this.
In St. Petersburg, Vorontsov's initiatives were not appreciated, and by order of Alexander I, who had tasted the delights of autocracy, Mikhail Semyonovich's corps, “imbued with the Jacobin spirit,” was disbanded.
Later, having rejected Vorontsov's request for resignation, Alexander appoints Mikhail Semenovich to command the 3rd Infantry Corps.
In 1820 Vorontsov took part in an attempt to create a "Society of Good Landowners", which was supposed to deal with the issues of liberating peasants from serfdom. But the emperor forbids this too.
On May 7, 1823 Vorontsov was appointed Governor-General of Novorossiya and Plenipotentiary Representative in Bessarabia.
At first glance, assessing the potential of the undeveloped land, Vorontsov energetically gets down to business. Under his leadership, the region begins to grow grapes, for these purposes, experienced breeders are invited, various grape varieties are prescribed.
Obviously, recalling the experience of England, Vorontsov initiates the development of fine-wool sheep breeding.
A network of educational institutions is being created in the region, including for girls, and the first public library is being opened. Odessa will acquire a number of beautiful buildings designed by talented architects, and the entire Crimean peninsula is supplied with an excellent highway along the southern coast of the peninsula.
Vorontsov organized the search and extraction of coal. And he was the first in Russia to create a shipping company.
In 1826 Vorontsov, together with Ribopierre, was sent to negotiate with Porte, and in 1828 he again used his military talents, taking command from the wounded Menshikov, during the siege of Varna.
In 1844 Vorontsov was appointed governor of the Caucasus with unlimited powers. The long-suffering region, which by that time had been waging a partisan war with the Russian Empire for more than 20 years, demanded a special approach. Mikhail Semenovich clearly understood that it would not be possible to cope with Shamil with bayonets alone. The trip to Dargo showed this to Petersburg as well. After that, the tactics of the war changed dramatically. Wide openings are being laid through the forests of Chechnya and Dagestan, strong points are being set up. Perhaps, much more depended on the civil component in this war than on the military one. And now Vorontsov, after Dargo raised to the dignity of a prince, is absolutely convinced of this. His policy of religious tolerance, ethnic tolerance and equality of all before the law has borne abundant fruit. A vivid illustration of this is the fact that the Turks who invaded the Caucasus during the Crimean War did not receive wide support from their co-religionists.
In March 1854, at the age of 70, Mikhail Semenovich Vorontsov asked for resignation due to a sharp deterioration in health.
In August 1856, Alexander II conferred the title of field marshal to his Serene Highness Prince Vorontsov for exceptional merits.
And in November of the same year, Vorontsov dies in Odessa. On his last journey, under a gun and cannon fire, the whole city accompanied him.
Two monuments were erected to Mikhail Semenovich Vorontsov with voluntarily collected money - in Odessa and Tiflis.
His Serene Highness Prince Vorontsov is a role model and an example for any modern military man and politician.
