Count

Count

A count or countess is an aristocratic nobleman in European countries. The word count came into English from the French comte, itself from Latin comes—in its accusative comitem—meaning "companion", and later "companion of the emperor, delegate of the emperor". The adjective form of the word is...

 Nikolay Mikhailovich Kamensky (December 27, 1776 – May 4, 1811) 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 who outlived his father, Field Marshal Mikhail Kamensky

Mikhail Kamensky

Count Mikhail Fedotovich Kamensky was a Russian Field Marshal prominent in the Catherinian wars and the Napoleonic campaigns....

, by two years.

Nikolay and his elder brother Sergei

Sergei Mikhailovich Kamensky

Sergei Mikhailovich Kamensky was a Russian infantry general who served in the Napoleonic wars.-Early life:...

 were educated at a cadet

Cadet

A cadet is a trainee to become an officer in the military, often a person who is a junior trainee. The term comes from the term "cadet" for younger sons of a noble family.- Military context :...

 school. In 1787, he was appointed Aide-de-camp to his father. Emperor Paul promoted him to Major General in 1799, the year when Kamensky chose to join Suvorov during the Swiss Campaign

French Revolutionary Wars: Campaigns of 1799

By 1799, the French Revolutionary Wars had resumed after a period of relative peace in 1798. The Second Coalition had organized against France, with Great Britain allying with Russia, Austria, the Ottoman Empire, and several of the minor German and Italian states...

 against Napoleon.

In the Battle of Austerlitz

Battle of Austerlitz

The Battle of Austerlitz, also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors, was one of Napoleon's greatest victories, where the French Empire effectively crushed the Third Coalition...

 Kamensky, subordinated to Peter Bagration, lost 1,600 men and barely managed to escape alive. He distinguished himself at Eylau

Battle of Eylau

The Battle of Eylau or Battle of Preussisch-Eylau, 7 and 8 February 1807, was a bloody and inconclusive battle between Napoléon's Grande Armée and a Russian Empire army under Levin August, Count von Bennigsen near the town of Preußisch Eylau in East Prussia. Late in the battle, the Russians...

 and was awarded Order of Saint George in reward. Thereupon he was sent with 8,000 soldiers to relieve the siege of Danzig

Siege of Danzig (1807)

The Siege of Danzig was the French encirclement and capture of Danzig during the War of the Fourth Coalition. On 19 March, 1807, around 27,000 French troops under Marshall Lefebvre besieged around 11,000 Prussian and Russian troops under Marshall Kalckreuth garrisoning the city of...

 but failed in his objective, losing as many as 1,500 people. The following Battle of Heilsberg

Battle of Heilsberg

The Battle of Heilsberg took place on 10 June 1807, during the Napoleonic Wars.-Overview:On 24 May 1807, the Siege of Danzig ended when Prussian General Friedrich Adolf, Count von Kalckreuth capitulated to French Marshal Francois Joseph Lefebvre. With Gdansk secured, Napoleon was now free to turn...

 claimed the lives of 1,700 soldiers under his command.

By the time the Finnish War

Finnish War

The Finnish War was fought between Sweden and the Russian Empire from February 1808 to September 1809. As a result of the war, the eastern third of Sweden was established as the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland within the Russian Empire...

 — the most brilliant campaign of his career — broke out in 1808, Kamensky had a reputation for being reckless about his soldiers' lives. However, he was promoted to Full General in 1809 and achieved important successes against the Swedes

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

 at Kuortane and Oravais

Battle of Oravais

The Battle of Oravais is sometimes regarded as the turning point of the Finnish War: the last chance for Sweden to turn the war to her advantage...

. It was he who came up with a daring plan of the Russian infantry's crossing the frozen Gulf of Bothnia

Gulf of Bothnia

The Gulf of Bothnia is the northernmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It is situated between Finland's west coast and Sweden's east coast. In the south of the gulf lie the Åland Islands, between the Sea of Åland and the Archipelago Sea.-Name:...

 from Finland

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

 towards Umeå

Umeå

- Transport :The road infrastructure in Umeå is well-developed, with two European highways passing through the city. About 4 km from the city centre is the Umeå City Airport...

 and Åland, which forced Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

 to cede Finland

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

 to Tsar Alexander

Alexander I of Russia

Alexander I of Russia , served as Emperor of Russia from 23 March 1801 to 1 December 1825 and the first Russian King of Poland from 1815 to 1825. He was also the first Russian Grand Duke of Finland and Lithuania....

.

The war in the north over, Kamensky succeeded Bagration in charge of the Danube Army, which operated against the Turks in the Russo–Turkish War (1806–1812). Accompanied by his elder brother, Kamensky stormed Silistra

Silistra

Silistra is a port city of northeastern Bulgaria, lying on the southern bank of the lower Danube at the country's border with Romania. Silistra is the administrative centre of Silistra Province and one of the important cities of the historical region of Southern Dobrudzha...

 and Pazardzhik

Pazardzhik

Pazardzhik 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...

 but failed to take Shumen

Shumen

Shumen is the tenth-largest city in Bulgaria and capital of Shumen Province. In the period 1950–1965 it was called Kolarovgrad, after the name of the communist leader Vasil Kolarov...

 and Rousse

Rousse

Ruse is the fifth-largest city in Bulgaria. Ruse is situated in the northeastern part of the country, on the right bank of the Danube, opposite the Romanian city of Giurgiu, from the capital Sofia and from the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast...

. On 26 October 1810 he roundly defeated a 40,000-strong army of Osman Pasha at Vidin

Vidin

Vidin is a port town on the southern bank of the Danube in northwestern Bulgaria. It is close to the borders with Serbia and Romania, and is also the administrative centre of Vidin Province, as well as of the Metropolitan of Vidin...

. Russians lost only 1,500 men, compared with 10,000 for their opponents.

On February 4, 1811 Kamensky caught fever and was transported to Odessa

Odessa

Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...

 for convalescence, leaving Louis Alexandre Andrault de Langeron

Louis Alexandre Andrault de Langeron

Count Louis Alexandre Andrault de Langéron , born in Paris, was a French general in the service of the Imperial Russian Army during the Napoleonic Wars.-Early life:...

 in command. He died three months later at the age of 34. Kamensky is related to actress Helen Mirren

Helen Mirren

Dame Helen Mirren, DBE is an English actor. She has won an Academy Award for Best Actress, four SAG Awards, four BAFTAs, three Golden Globes, four Emmy Awards, and two Cannes Film Festival Best Actress Awards.-Early life and family:...

, whose great-great-great-great-grandfather was his father.