Mikhail Kutuzov

thumb| Prince Mikhail Illarionovich Golenishchev-Kutuzov-Smolensky (Russian: Михаил Илларионович Голенищев-Кутузов-Смоленский; 16 September [O.S. 5 September] 1745 – 28 April [O.S. 16 April] 1813) was a field marshal of the Russian Empire. He served as a military officer and a diplomat under three Romanov monarchs: Catherine II, Paul I and Alexander I. Kutuzov was shot in the head twice while fighting the Turks (1774 and 1788) and survived the serious injuries seemingly against all odds. He defeated Napoleon as commander-in-chief using attrition warfare in the Patriotic War of 1812. For the Battle of Krasnoi, he received the victory title Smolensky (lit. 'of Smolensk'). Quotes Outside the gate Kutuzov was sitting in a droshky, buried in deep thought. Colonel Toll drove up to the Russian general and reported that the French had entered Moscow. "God be praised," answered Kutuzov. "That is their last triumph." Speech to his men before withdrawing his forces to the southeast of Moscow, as recalled by Sergey Glinka. Translated by Anthony Brett-James, 1812: Eyewitness Accounts of Napoleon's Defeat in Russia (London: Macmillan, 1966), p. 165 For myself, stationed...between the enemy and the fertile provinces, and at a short distance from Moscow, I watch his movements, and guard the resources of the empire: for, I must repeat, that as long as the army of your Imperial Majesty exists, (and it will exist as long as there is a Russian alive to defend his country!) the loss of Moscow is not the loss of the empire! The invader will be compelled to evacuate the capital of the Tzars. Its ruins will be repaired, and the glory of the empire brightened by the very attempts that have been made to extinguish its existence. Letter to Tzar Alexander I, dated from the village of Gilino, 16 Sept. [O.S. 4 Sept.] 1812. Reported in Sir Robert Ker Porter, A Narrative of the Campaign in Russia, during the Year 1812 (London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1813), p. 105 External links Category:1745 births Category:1813 deaths Category:Military leaders from Russia Category:People of the Napoleonic Wars