Joseph Vladimirovich Gurko was born on July 16, 1828 in the Aleksandrovka family estate in the Mogilev province. He was the third child in the family and belonged to the old noble family of Romeiko-Gurko, who moved to the west of the Russian Empire from the Belarusian lands. His father, Vladimir Iosifovich, was an extraordinary man of a complex and brilliant fate. Having begun his service as a warrant officer of the Semenovsky regiment, he rose to the rank of general from infantry. He fought in the battles of Borodino, Maloyaroslavets, Tarutin, Bautsen, commanded troops in the Caucasus, participated in the liberation of Armenia, pacified the Polish rebellion. Vladimir Iosifovich told his son a lot about his military campaigns, great battles, legendary commanders of the past and heroes of the Patriotic War. It is quite understandable that from an early age the boy only dreamed of a military career.
Joseph began his studies at the Jesuit College School. In 1840-1841, a great grief befell their family - first, Gurko's mother, Tatyana Alekseevna Korf, died, and then her older sister Sophia, a beauty and maid of honor of the imperial court. Vladimir Iosifovich, having barely survived the losses, submitted a letter of resignation, justifying his upset household chores and illnesses. However, the forty-six-year-old lieutenant general never received his resignation, on the contrary, in 1843 he was sent to the Caucasus in the heat of battles with the mountaineers. Joseph's older sister, seventeen-year-old Marianne, he had to send to his aunt, and his son was placed in the Corps of Pages.
At the beginning of 1846, Vladimir Gurko was appointed head of all reserve and reserve troops of the army and guards, and Joseph on August 12 of the same year successfully graduated from the corps and was in the rank of a cornet arranged to serve in the Life Guards Hussar Regiment. Daughter Marianna by that time had married Vasily Muravyov-Apostol, the younger brother of Matvey, who was sent into exile in Siberia, and the executed Sergei. Volodymyr Gurko's health, meanwhile, continued to deteriorate. He spent the autumn and winter of 1846 at the Sakharovo estate, and in the spring of 1847 he went abroad for medical treatment. Joseph Gurko buried his father in 1852. As an inheritance, the young officer received a number of estates, but was little interested in the economy, transferring them to the full care of the managers.
Very quickly, Joseph Gurko became a first-class cavalry officer. On April 11, 1848 he was already promoted to lieutenant, and on August 30, 1855 - to captain. In 1849, in connection with the beginning of the revolution in Hungary, Gurko, as part of his regiment, made a campaign to the western borders of the Russian Empire, but did not manage to take part in hostilities. When the Crimean War began, Joseph Vladimirovich tried all the possibilities in order to get into the besieged Sevastopol. In the end, he had to change the shoulder straps of the captain's guard for the shoulder straps of an infantry major. It was at that time that he uttered the words that later became famous: "Live with the cavalry, die with the infantry." In the fall of 1855, he was transferred to the Chernigov infantry regiment, located at the Belbek positions in the Crimea, but again did not have time to take part in hostilities - at the end of August 1855, after 349 days of valiant defense, Russian troops left Sevastopol.
In March 1856, a peace treaty was signed in Paris with the participation of Prussia and Austria, and six months before that, on February 18, 1855, Nicholas I died of pneumonia, and Alexander II became his successor. Gurko's service, meanwhile, continued. In the rank of captain, he again returned to the hussar regiment, where he was entrusted with the command of the squadron. In this position, he established himself as an exemplary leader, a strict but skillful educator and teacher of subordinates. And these were not just words. The emperor himself paid special attention to the brilliant drill and combat training of the Gurko squadron during the next review of the troops. Soon after that (November 6, 1860), Joseph Vladimirovich was transferred to the post of Adjutant Wing of His Imperial Majesty.
In the spring of 1861, Gurko was promoted to colonel, and soon sent to the Samara province in order to control the course of peasant reforms carried out by Alexander II and personally report on the state of affairs to the tsar. Upon arrival at the scene on March 11, Joseph Vladimirovich immediately got involved in the case. At the most important moment of the reform, namely during the promulgation of the manifesto, he gave the order to print the required number of legislative acts in local newspapers. Gurko went against the decisions of the local nobility, which in any case demanded from the authorities the use of military force against the peasants. Having come out as an ardent opponent of forceful measures, he argued that any "disobedience" of the peasants and the suppression of peasant unrest can be settled by "simple interpretations." Joseph Vladimirovich personally visited all the most "problematic" villages of the Samara province, holding long conversations with the peasants, explaining and explaining to them the essence of the changes that had occurred.
Indicative are the measures taken by Gurko in relation to the captured peasant Modest Surkov, who "freely" interpreted the manifesto to the peasants for money, as well as private Vasily Khrabrov, who called himself Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich and distributed rights and freedoms to local peasants. Joseph Vladimirovich spoke out strongly against the death penalty for "interpreters". He said that death would raise them in the eyes of the peasants to the rank of national heroes, which in turn could result in large-scale demonstrations. Proving himself a forward-thinking politician, Gurko put pressure on the commission of inquiry, ensuring that both "interpreters" "in all the villages they passed were publicly exposed, and then subjected to corporal punishment and sentenced to imprisonment.
The adjutant wing also took a lot of strength to fight against the abuses of the landowners of the Samara province. In his reports to the sovereign, he regularly reported on the almost widespread abuse of authority by landowners in relation to the peasants, among which the most common were: excess of quitrent and corvee norms and redistribution of fertile land. Acting according to the situation, Gurko influenced the local authorities, for example, he could give an order to give out grain to peasants who were deprived of all reserves through the fault of the landowners. The case of the knight marshal of the imperial court, Prince Kochubei, who took from the peasants all the good land that they owned, was widely publicized. Without hesitation in expressions, Gurko, in his next report to Alexander II, outlined a picture of what was happening, and as a result, the confrontation between the landowner and the peasants was resolved in favor of the latter.
The actions of Joseph Vladimirovich in the course of the peasant reform were positively assessed even by the opposition newspaper Kolokol, Alexander Herzen, who once said that "the aiguillettes of the adjutant wing of Gurko are a symbol of honor and valor." Konstantin Pobedonostsev reported to the tsar: “Gurko's conscience is that of a soldier, straight. He does not lend itself to the action of political talkers, he has no cunning and he is not capable of intrigue. He also has no noble relatives who seek to make a political career for themselves through him."
In early 1862, thirty-four-year-old Gurko married Maria Salyas de Tournemire, nee Countess and daughter of the writer Elizaveta Vasilyevna Salyas de Tournemire, better known as Eugenia Tours. The young wife became a loyal friend to Joseph Vladimirovich, their love for each other remained mutual throughout their lives. It is curious that this marriage caused condemnation from the emperor, since the writer herself, nicknamed by her contemporaries "Russian Georges Sand", and her family and comrades were considered too liberal for the promising aide-de-camp. The writer and journalist Yevgeny Feoktistov recalled: “The Tsar did not want to forgive Gurko for his marriage for a long time. The young settled in Tsarskoe Selo, where Joseph Vladimirovich was content with a rather limited circle of acquaintances. He seemed to have become disgraced, and to the great surprise of his colleagues, who had no idea what happened between him and the Emperor, did not receive any appointments."
Over the next four years, Gurko carried out minor assignments of an administrative nature. He also oversaw the recruitment taking place in the Vyatka, Kaluga and Samara provinces. Finally, in 1866 he was appointed commander of the fourth hussar regiment of Mariupol, and at the end of the summer of 1867 he was promoted to major general with an appointment to the emperor's retinue. In 1869, Gurko was given the Life Guards Horse Grenadier Regiment, which he commanded for six years. The generals rightly believed that this regiment was distinguished by excellent training. In July 1875, Joseph Vladimirovich was appointed commander of the second guards cavalry division, and a year later he was promoted to lieutenant general.
In the summer of 1875, anti-Turkish uprisings broke out in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and later in Bulgaria. For more than five hundred years, Serbs, Montenegrins, Bulgarians, Bosnians, Macedonians and other peoples, close in faith and blood to the Slavs, were under the Turkish yoke. The Turkish government was cruel, all the disturbances were punished mercilessly - the cities burned, thousands of civilians died. The irregular Turkish troops, nicknamed the Bashi-bazouks, were particularly bloodthirsty and ferocious. In fact, these were unorganized and uncontrollable bands of bandits, recruited mainly from the warlike tribes of the Ottoman Empire in Asia Minor and Albania. Their units demonstrated particular cruelty during the suppression of the April Uprising that broke out in 1876 in Bulgaria. More than thirty thousand civilians died, including the elderly, women and children. The massacre caused a widespread public outcry in Russia and European countries. Oscar Wilde, Charles Darwin, Victor Hugo, Giuseppe Garibaldi expressed their support for the Bulgarians. In Russia, special "Slavic committees" were formed, collecting donations for the rebels, volunteer detachments were organized in the cities. Under pressure from Russia, a conference of European diplomats was held in Constantinople in 1877. It did not put an end to the atrocities and genocide of the Slavic peoples, however, it allowed our country to achieve an unspoken agreement between the European powers on non-interference in the brewing military conflict with Turkey.
A plan for a future war was drawn up at the end of 1876 and at the end of February 1877 was studied by the emperor and approved by the General Staff and the Minister of War. It was based on the idea of a lightning victory - the Russian army was supposed to cross the Danube on the Nikopol-Svishtov sector, which has no fortresses, and then split into several detachments with different tasks. Gurko at that time was already 48 years old, but he was slender like a young man, strong and hardy, Suvorov-style unpretentious in everyday life. Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich, commander-in-chief of the Danube Army, knew him well, since since 1864 he was an inspector general of the cavalry. It is known that he personally insisted on the appointment of Joseph Vladimirovich to the active army, saying: "I do not see another commander of the forward cavalry."
On April 12, 1877, Russia declared war on Turkey. On June 15, the advanced units of the Russian army crossed the Danube, and on June 20, Gurko arrived at the army's location. By order of June 24, 1877, he was appointed head of the Southern (forward) detachment, having at his disposal one rifle and four cavalry brigades, three hundred Cossacks with thirty-two guns and six squads of the Bulgarian militia. The task before him was set very clear - to occupy the city of Tarnovo and the passes across the Balkans.
Iosif Vladimirovich, who had no military experience until now, brilliantly showed himself in command of the Southern Detachment. During this operation, his remarkable military genius was first manifested, combining liveliness, ingenuity and reasonable courage. Gurko liked to repeat to his commanders: “With proper training, the battle is nothing special - the same exercise only with live ammunition, requiring even greater order, even greater calmness. … And remember that you are leading a Russian soldier into battle who never lagged behind his officer."
On June 25, 1877, approaching Tarnovo, Gurko undertook a reconnaissance of the area. Correctly assessing the confusion of the enemy, he, without hesitation, turned the reconnaissance into a lightning cavalry attack and captured the city with one swift blow. The Turkish garrison retreated in panic, abandoning ammunition, weapons and ammunition. The news of the capture of the ancient capital of Bulgaria within an hour and a half and only by the forces of one cavalry was greeted with enthusiasm in Russia. Russian soldiers in the liberated Bulgarian settlements were greeted as liberators. The peasants called them to the post, treated them with honey, bread and cheese, the priests crossed the sign of the cross on the soldiers.
After the capture of Tarnovo, the troops of the Southern Detachment began to carry out the main task - the capture of the Balkan passes. There were four passes through the Balkan Mountains, the most convenient of which was Shipka. However, the Turks strongly fortified it and kept large reserves in the Kazanlak area. Of the remaining passes, they did not control only the most difficult - the Khainkoisky Pass. The southern detachment successfully defeated him and by July 5 defeated the Turkish forces near the city of Kazanlak. Under the prevailing circumstances, the enemy, entrenched in Shipka, could be attacked simultaneously from the north and from the south (that is, from the rear), where Gurko's detachment was located. The Russian troops did not miss such an opportunity - after fierce two days of fighting, the enemy, no longer trying to hold their positions, at night retreated along mountain paths to Philippopolis (now Plovdiv), abandoning all the artillery.
The victories of the Southern Detachment, which had three times less forces than those of the Turkish troops opposing them, caused a real panic in Constantinople. Many of the highest dignitaries of the Ottoman Empire were removed from their posts. The commander-in-chief of the Turkish forces on the Danube - the incompetent and elderly Abdi Pasha - was dismissed, and in his place the Turkish General Staff put the forty-five-year-old General Suleiman Pasha. He was a really worthy opponent, a commander of a new, European formation. For seventeen days by sea and by land, having overcome almost seven hundred kilometers, he managed to transfer a twenty-five thousandth corps from Montenegro and threw it into battle on the move.
During this time, Gurko received reinforcements in the form of one infantry brigade, as well as permission to "act according to the circumstances." Setting the task to prevent the Turkish forces from reaching the Khainkoy and Shipka passes, Gurko overcame the Small Balkans and on July 10 near Stara Zagora, on July 18 near Nova Zagora and on July 19 near Kalitinov he won several more brilliant victories. However, at the end of July, large enemy forces approached the village of Eski-Zagry. This place was held by a small detachment of Russian soldiers and Bulgarian militias led by Nikolai Stoletov. After five hours of fierce defensive battles, the threat of encirclement appeared, and Nikolai Grigorievich gave the order to leave the settlement. Unfortunately, the main forces of Joseph Vladimirovich were not able to arrive in time to help - on the way to Stara Zagora they met with the troops of Reuf Pasha. The enemy was eventually defeated, but time passed, and Gurko ordered all units to withdraw to the passes. The sacrifices were not in vain, the battered army of Suleiman Pasha licked the wounds for three weeks and did not move.
The second unsuccessful assault on Plevna and the inability to reinforce the Southern detachment with reinforcements served as the basis for ordering the Gurko detachment to retreat north to Tarnovo. Joseph Vladimirovich himself, who does not have the necessary reserves not only for the offensive, but also for promptly countering the Turkish detachments, said: “If Suleiman Pasha had opposed me with the whole army, then I would have resisted to the last extreme. The thought of what will happen here when I leave is awe-inspiring. My retreat will signal a general massacre of Christians. … Despite the desire, I cannot turn away these atrocities, because I cannot split the troops and send detachments to every place."
Gurko's forces joined the forces of General Fyodor Radetsky, holding the southern area of the theater of operations. The command of the army, represented by Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich, appreciated the actions of Joseph Vladimirovich, conferring on him the rank of Adjutant General and awarding him with the Order of St. George of the third degree. However, immeasurably above all the awards was the honor and glory that he earned from ordinary soldiers. The soldiers had boundless faith in Gurko and called him "General Vperyod". He amazed everyone with his endurance and indomitable energy, composure during battles, calmly standing under bullets on the front line. Contemporaries described him like this: “Slender and thin with huge sideburns and sharp, gray, deep eyes. He spoke little, never argued, and seemed impenetrable in his feelings, intentions and thoughts. From his whole figure breathed an inner strength, formidable and authoritative. Not everyone loved him, but everyone respected him and almost everyone was afraid."
The southern detachment was disbanded, and in August 1877 Gurko left for St. Petersburg in order to mobilize his second guards cavalry division. On September 20, he had already arrived with her at Plevna and was placed at the head of all the cavalry of the Western detachment, located on the left bank of the Vita. Plevna was blocking the way to Constantinople for the Russian troops. The three-time assault on the stronghold was unsuccessful, and the Russian-Romanian troops, according to the plan of Eduard Totleben, who led the siege, surrounded the city from the south, north and east. However, in the south-west and west, the paths for the enemy were actually open and ammunition and food regularly arrived for the soldiers of Osman Pasha along the Sofia highway. The reserve units of Shefket Pasha, engaged in the protection of the highway, erected along it near five villages - Gorny Dybnik, Dolne Dybnik, Telish, Yablunyts and Radomirts - powerful fortifications located at a distance of 8-10 kilometers from each other and consisting of a number of redoubts with forward trenches.
The task of blocking the Sofia highway was entrusted to Gurko. He developed a plan according to which the combined forces of cavalry and guards were to act. The headquarters approved his proposal, and Joseph Vladimirovich received under his command the entire guard, including the Izmailovsky regiment. This decision caused discontent among many military leaders. Still, Gurko's seniority was less than that of most division commanders, including the chief of staff of the Guards Corps. However, the complexity of the situation forced the commander-in-chief of the Danube Army to disregard the pride of senior commanders who had experience, but did not differ in the necessary qualities. Taking command of the guard, Gurko told the officers: “Gentlemen, I must announce to you that I passionately love military affairs. I have had such happiness and such an honor, which I never dared to dream of - to lead the Guard into battle. " He told the soldiers: “Guardsmen, they care about you more than the rest of the army … and now it's time for you to prove that you are worthy of these concerns … Show the world that the spirit of the troops of Rumyantsev and Suvorov is alive in you. Shoot a smart bullet - rarely, but accurately, and when you have to deal with the bayonets, then make holes in the enemy. He can't stand our hurray."
The first blow to the enemy was struck at Gorny Dybnyak on October 12. This bloody battle took a prominent place in the annals of military art, since here Gurko used new methods of movement of the rifle chain before an attack - crawling and dashing. In a different way, Joseph Vladimirovich approached the attack of the Telish fortifications. Seeing the futility of the assault, he gave the order to conduct a powerful artillery barrage. The fire of Russian batteries demoralized the enemy, and on October 16, the five thousandth garrison ceased resistance. And on October 20, Dolny Dybnik surrendered without a fight. Despite the success of the operation, which ensured the complete blockade of Plevna, its price was enormous. The losses of the Russians amounted to over four thousand people. And although Alexander II, who was at that time near Plevna, awarded the general with a golden sword, strewn with diamonds, and with the inscription "For courage", Gurko himself was very upset by the losses suffered by the guards.
The supply of ammunition and provisions for the besieged city ceased, and the fate of the fortress was sealed. Gyaurko Pasha, as the Turks called Joseph Vladimirovich, proposed a new plan to the command - to immediately go to the Balkans, cross the mountains, defeat the newly formed army of Mehmet-Ali, and then unblock the Shipka troops holding back the forces of Suleiman Pasha. Most of the members of the military council called the plan of Joseph Vladimirovich insane. In response, the general, by no means inclined to pathos, said: "I will keep an account of my deeds before history and the fatherland." The disagreements went so far that, bypassing the immediate superiors, Gurko, who had the nickname "Thorn" at the headquarters, sent the emperor a memorandum outlining the measures he proposed. It ended with the following words: “Ambitious intentions are far from me, but I do not care what the offspring will say about me, and therefore I inform you that you need to attack immediately. If Your Majesty does not agree with me, I ask you to appoint to my position another chief, who is better prepared than me to fulfill the passive plan proposed by the Headquarters."
As a result, it was decided that Gurko's detachment, having received reinforcements, would cross the Balkan Mountains and move to Sofia along their southern slope. In late October - early November 1977, Gurko's cavalry occupied the city of Vratsa, Etropole and Orhaniye (now Botevgrad). By the way, a 25,000-strong group was concentrated near the Bulgarian city of Orhaniye, preparing to release the troops of Osman Pasha. Gurko's preemptive strike shocked the enemy, the commander of the group died on the battlefield, and the Turkish troops, having suffered heavy losses, retreated to Sofia. Like a year ago, the advance detachment of Gurko was enthusiastically received by the local population. Young Bulgarians asked to join the Russian detachments, helped the cavalrymen in reconnaissance, watered horses on bivouacs, chopped wood and worked as translators.
General Joseph Gurko in the Balkans. P. O Kovalevsky, 1891
Having achieved a number of successes, Joseph Vladimirovich was preparing to march for the Balkans, but the commander-in-chief of the Danube army, showing caution, detained his troops near Orhaniye until the fall of Plevna. The people of Gurko had been waiting for this event for more than a month with poor supply and in the conditions of the coming cold weather. Finally, in mid-December, a detachment (about seventy thousand men with 318 guns) reinforced by the Third Guards Division and the Ninth Corps moved through the Balkans. They were met by storms and a terrible cold, snow-covered paths and icy descents and ascents - it seemed that nature itself took the side of the enemy. A contemporary wrote: "To overcome all difficulties and not to deviate from the goal, you needed an unbreakable faith in your troops and yourself, an iron, Suvorov will." During the transition, Joseph Vladimirovich gave everyone an example of personal endurance, energy and vigor, sharing all the difficulties of the campaign along with the privates, personally commanding the rise and fall of the artillery, encouraging the soldiers, sleeping in the open air, being content with simple food. When, at one pass, Gurko was informed that it was impossible to lift the artillery even on hands, the general replied: "Then we pull it in with our teeth!" It is also known that when a murmur began among the officers, Gurko, having gathered all the guards command, threateningly said: “By the will of the emperor, I have been placed over you. I demand from you unquestioning obedience and I will make each and every one exactly fulfill, and not criticize, my orders. I will ask everyone to remember this. If it's hard for big people, then I will put them in reserve, and go ahead with the little ones."
Most foreign military leaders seriously believed that it was impossible to conduct military operations in the Balkans in the winter. Joseph Vladimirovich broke this stereotype. Overcoming oneself and fighting the forces of nature lasted eight days and ended with the victory of the Russian spirit, also predetermining the outcome of the entire war. The detachment, finding itself in the Sofia Valley, moved west and after a fierce battle on December 19, captured the Tashkisen position from the Turks. And on December 23, Gurko freed Sofia. In the order on the occasion of the liberation of the city, the military leader reported: "Years will pass, and our descendants, visiting these harsh places, will say with pride - the Russian army passed here, resurrecting the glory of the Rumyantsev and Suvorov miraculous heroes!"
Following Joseph Vladimirovich, other detachments of our army also made the transition through the Balkan Mountains. In early January 1878, in a three-day battle at Philippopolis, Gurko defeated the troops of Suleiman Pasha and liberated the city. This was followed by the occupation of Adrianople, which opened the way to Constantinople, and finally, in February, the western suburb of Constantinople, San Stefano, was captured. At this point, a peace treaty was signed, which put an end to the Turkish yoke in Bulgaria. Soon, a new state appeared on all maps of Europe, and in honor of General Gurko, three settlements were named in Bulgaria - two villages and one city. For this campaign in January 1879, Joseph Vladimirovich was awarded the Order of St. George of the second degree.
After the end of the war, the military leader, who became very famous both in his homeland and in Europe, took a vacation for some time. He preferred to rest in Sakharov with his family, which, I must say, was quite large with him. At different times, six sons were born in the Gurko family, three of whom - Alexei, Eugene and Nikolai - died or died during the life of their parent. By the time of the death of Joseph Vladimirovich, three of his sons remained - Dmitry, Vladimir and Vasily. After the revolution, they all went into exile.
On April 5, 1879, after a sensational assassination attempt on Alexander II, Gurko was appointed temporary military governor-general of St. Petersburg. Its main task was to combat the terrorist actions of the populists. Uncompromisingly and rather harshly, he put things in order in the capital. This is evidenced by a number of mandatory rules governing the circulation of explosives and firearms. Also, on the initiative of Joseph Vladimirovich, all the city janitors were mobilized to serve in the police.
From the beginning of 1882 to July 1883, Gurko performed the duties of the interim governor-general of Odessa and the commander of the local military district. His main occupations were education and training of the troops of the garrison. In this post, Iosif Vladimirovich took part in the trial of Nikolai Zhelvakov and Stepan Khalturin, who killed Vasily Strelnikov, a military prosecutor and an active fighter against the revolutionary underground. Following a direct order from Alexander III, he executed them.
Soon Gurko was moved to the post of Governor-General, as well as commander of the Warsaw Military District. His goal was to restore order in the Privislensky region and train garrison units. The reports of agents of neighboring countries, intercepted and delivered to Gurko, testified to the unfavorable situation in the international arena. The commander himself was convinced of the growing threat from Germany and Austria and, using his vast experience, he conducted intensive training of troops. Iosif Vladimirovich paid much attention to the fortification defense of the district, strengthening the fortifications of Novogeorgievsk, Ivangorod, Warsaw, Brest-Litovsk, creating a line of new fortified points, covering the area with a network of strategic highways and establishing a close and live connection between the fortresses and the troops. The artillery of the district received a new extensive range, and the cavalry - the object of special attention of Gurko - was constantly on the move, performing tasks for speed, actions in the masses, reconnaissance, etc.
Camps, exercises, live firing and maneuvers replaced each other and were carried out both in summer and in winter. In the order for the troops of the district, Iosif Vladimirovich spoke out against the commanders who dealt with the case "from the formal point of view, without putting a heart in it, putting personal convenience above the assigned responsibilities for the leadership of the education and upbringing of people." Military experts noted the non-standard methods of Gurko, and the traditions established under him in the training of troops were preserved until the beginning of the First World War. In addition, Joseph Vladimirovich pursued a policy of upholding the national interests of the Russian people in the Warsaw Military District. Fulfilling the will of Alexander III, he remained at the same time loyal to his personal views, adhering to non-violent principles in resolving conflict situations.
Long years of service undermined the health of the combat general. On December 6, 1894, sixty-six-year-old Joseph Vladimirovich was dismissed on a personal request. For the services rendered to the Fatherland and the throne, the sovereign promoted Gurko to the rank of field marshal general. It is worth noting that Joseph Vladimirovich is a native of an old family, the owner of the highest awards of the empire, the son of a general from infantry, who himself reached the rank of field marshal, surprisingly enough, was not elevated to either princely or count dignity. The main reason for this, obviously, was the straightforwardness of his judgments. Not paying attention to personalities, in any situation "straight as a bayonet" Gurko boldly expressed his opinion. This trait of character more than once led to his conflicts with the Russian emperors.
Monument to Field Marshal Gurko
On the day of the coronation of Nicholas II in the spring of 1896, Gurko became a knight of the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called, and was also appointed chief of the fourteenth rifle battalion, which was part of the fourth rifle brigade, which won the nickname "iron" under the command of Joseph Vladimirovich in 1877. The last years of his life Gurko spent in the Sakharovo estate, located near Tver. The commander was seriously ill, his legs gave out, and he could not move independently. Nevertheless, he supervised work on the improvement of the park - alleys were laid out of larch, birch and relict fir, which make up the IVG monogram. The field marshal died of a heart attack on the night of January 14-15, 1901 at the seventy-third year of life and was buried in the ancestral crypt.
