Alexander Bashilov
Encyclopedia
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
) was a Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n general officer of Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
period, later engaged in urban planning
Urban planning
Urban planning incorporates areas such as economics, design, ecology, sociology, geography, law, political science, and statistics to guide and ensure the orderly development of settlements and communities....
of Moscow and its suburbs.
Military career
Alexander Bashilov, commissioned on graduation from the Page CorpsPage Corps
Page Corps was a military academy in Imperial Russia, which prepared sons of the nobility and of senior officers for military service....
, joined the elite Preobrazhensky regiment
Preobrazhensky regiment
The Preobrazhensky Regiment was one of the oldest and elite regiments of the Russian army. Along with the Semenovsky regiment also served as a gendarmie unit for the state Secret Chancellery in the 18th century, headed by the Prince Fyodor Romodanovsky.It was formed by Peter the Great in the late...
in January 1798. An aide to Paul I of Russia
Paul I of Russia
Paul I was the Emperor of Russia between 1796 and 1801. He also was the 72nd Prince and Grand Master of the Order of Malta .-Childhood:...
, he quickly rose to the rank of colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
in October 1800. In February 1802 he was stripped of his court titles for "indecent behaviour in a theatre" and transferred to a second-rate infantry regiment. He retired in November 1803 but returned to active service as a commanding officer of Tambov
Tambov
Tambov is a city and the administrative center of Tambov Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Tsna and Studenets Rivers southeast of Moscow...
regiment in 1806.
Bashilov was involved in four campaigns:
- 1807 - Regimental commander against the French during War of the Fourth CoalitionWar of the Fourth CoalitionThe Fourth Coalition against Napoleon's French Empire was defeated in a war spanning 1806–1807. Coalition partners included Prussia, Russia, Saxony, Sweden, and the United Kingdom....
- 1809 - Brigade commander in Galician and BulgariaBulgariaBulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
n campaign against the Turks during Russo-Turkish War (1806–1812), notably the siege of PazardzhikPazardzhikPazardzhik is a city situated along the banks of the Maritsa river, Southern Bulgaria. It is the capital of Pazardzhik Province and centre for the homonymous Pazardzhik Municipality...
. Promoted to General Major in June 1810 - 1812 - Brigade commander against the French during French invasion of Russia. Assigned to Alexander TormasovAlexander TormasovCount Alexander Petrovich Tormasov was a Russian cavalry general prominent during the Napoleonic Wars....
's Observation Army, was engaged in defensive action at KobrynKobrynKobryn or Kobrin is a city in the Brest voblast of Belarus and the center of the Kobryn Raion. The city is located in the southwestern corner of Belarus where the Mukhavets River and Dnepr-Bug Canal meet. The city lies about 52 km east of the city of Brest. Kobryn is located at Latitude...
and Gorodechna (July 31, 1812), earning Order of St. GeorgeOrder of St. GeorgeThe Military Order of the Holy Great-Martyr and the Triumphant George The Military Order of the Holy Great-Martyr and the Triumphant George The Military Order of the Holy Great-Martyr and the Triumphant George (also known as Order of St. George the Triumphant, Russian: Военный орден Св...
, fourth class for the latter. - 1813 - Siege of ToruńTorunToruń is an ancient city in northern Poland, on the Vistula River. Its population is more than 205,934 as of June 2009. Toruń is one of the oldest cities in Poland. The medieval old town of Toruń is the birthplace of the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus....
. Bashilov, wounded, retired from the Army in May, 1813 for health reasons.
Urban planner
In 1825, Bashilov returned to state service in the office of Governor of Moscow; during Russo-Turkish War (1828–1829) he also had a temporary assignment in Army logistics. In 1830-1832, Bashilov headed the Building Commission of Moscow (Комиссия строений в Москве).Bashilov joined the city administration at the time when Moscow was still recovering from the destruction of Fire of 1812
Fire of Moscow (1812)
The 1812 Fire of Moscow broke out on September 14, 1812 in Moscow on the day when Russian troops and most residents abandoned the city and Napoleon's vanguard troops entered the city following the Battle of Borodino...
. He is remembered for planting the park around Petrovsky Palace (then a distant north-western suburb) and planning the regular city grid
Grid plan
The grid plan, grid street plan or gridiron plan is a type of city plan in which streets run at right angles to each other, forming a grid...
along Petersburg Highway (present-day Leningradsky Prospekt
Leningradsky Prospekt
Leningradsky Prospekt , or Leningrad Avenue, is a major arterial avenue in Moscow, Russia. It continues the path of Tverskaya Street and 1st Tverskaya-Yamskaya Street north-west from Belorussky Rail Terminal, and changes the name once again to Leningrad Highway past the Sokol metro station...
) and north from the Palace (present-day Savyolovsky District
Savyolovsky District
Savyolovsky District is an administrative district of Northern Administrative Okrug, and one of the 125 raions of Moscow, Russia....
). This grid mostly survives to day, including Bashilovskaya and Novaya Bashilovka streets. Bashilov owned a house on Petersburg Highway and rented it to the operators of the famous Yar restaurant; the highway soon became an upper-class recreation area, while the Bashilovka outskirts remained a working-class area.
Bashilov and his son Alexander (1807–1854) were buried at lot 14 of Vagankovo Cemetery
Vagankovo Cemetery
Vagan'kovskoye Cemetery , established in 1771, is located in the Krasnaya Presnya district of Moscow...
. Bashilov wrote a book of memoirs about reign of Paul I
Paul I of Russia
Paul I was the Emperor of Russia between 1796 and 1801. He also was the 72nd Prince and Grand Master of the Order of Malta .-Childhood:...
, printed in posthumously in 1871.