Yakov Kulnev
Encyclopedia
Pyotr Bagration
Prince Pyotr Ivanovich Bagration was a general of the Russian army. He was a descendant of the Georgian royal family of the Bagrations.- Life :...
and Aleksey Yermolov, one of the most popular 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 military leaders at the time of the 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...
. Suvorov
Alexander Suvorov
Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov , Count Suvorov of Rymnik, Prince in Italy, Count of the Holy Roman Empire , was the fourth and last generalissimo of the Russian Empire.One of the few great generals in history who never lost a battle along with the likes of Alexander...
's admirer and participant of 55 battles, he lost his life during Napoleon's invasion of Russia.
Early campaigns
Kulnev's father was a Baltic officer of lesser noble background. The future general was born in LudzaLudza
Ludza is a town in the Latgalia region of eastern Latvia. The population as of 2004 was 10,247.Until July 1, 2009 Ludza was the administrative centre of Ludza District...
(present-day Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
) and matriculated at the Infantry School for Nobility in 1785.
He joined a hussar
Hussar
Hussar refers to a number of types of light cavalry which originated in Hungary in the 14th century, tracing its roots from Serbian medieval cavalry tradition, brought to Hungary in the course of the Serb migrations, which began in the late 14th century....
regiment and, under Suvorov's command, took part in the Russo-Turkish War, 1787-1792 and the Polish Campaign of 1794-1795. The following decade of his life is obscure.
In 1807 Kulnev was put in charge of the regiment of Hrodna
Hrodna
Grodno or Hrodna , is a city in Belarus. It is located on the Neman River , close to the borders of Poland and Lithuania . It has 327,540 inhabitants...
hussars fighting against Napoleon. He made a name for himself at 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...
and Friedland
Battle of Friedland
The Battle of Friedland saw Napoleon I's French army decisively defeat Count von Bennigsen's Russian army about twenty-seven miles southeast of Königsberg...
, in which he famously fought his way out of an encirclement.
Finnish campaign
In the Finnish WarFinnish 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...
against 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....
, Kulnev led Buxhoevden
Friedrich Wilhelm von Buxhoeveden
Friedrich Wilhelm Count von Buxhoevden was a Russian Infantry General and a government official. Buxhoeveden commanded the Russian armies during the Finnish War....
's vanguard. For his part in the storm of Jakobstad
Jakobstad
Jakobstad is a town and municipality in Ostrobothnia, Finland. The town has a population of and covers a land area of . The population density is .- History :...
he was awarded a golden sabre. He encouraged guerrilla fighting and fought with distinction at Lapua
Battle of Lapua
The Battle of Lapua was fought between Swedish and Russian troops on July 14, 1808 at Lapua, Finland. The Russians had set up defences around Lapua. The Swedes tried to outflank and surround the defending Russians...
, Kuortane, 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...
— three engagements which earned him Order of Saint George and the rank of Major General. Denis Davydov
Denis Davydov
Denis Vasilyevich Davydov was a Russian soldier-poet of the Napoleonic Wars who invented a specific genre – hussar poetry noted for its hedonism and bravado – and spectacularly designed his own life to illustrate such poetry.-Biography:...
, who fought under his command in Finland, described Kulnev's exploits in his memoirs.
Kulnev crowned the campaign by leading Bagration's vanguard across the frozen Baltic Sea
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
towards the Åland Islands
Åland Islands
The Åland Islands form an archipelago in the Baltic Sea. They are situated at the entrance to the Gulf of Bothnia and form an autonomous, demilitarised, monolingually Swedish-speaking region of Finland...
and thence to Grisslehamn
Grisslehamn
Grisslehamn is a locality situated in Norrtälje Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden with 277 inhabitants in 2010.It is located on the coast by the Sea of Åland; the Eckerö Linjen ferries between Åland and Sweden operate between Grisslehamn and Eckerö on Åland.The name Grisslehamn was first...
, within 70 km from the Swedish capital, Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
. This daring manoeuvre forced the Swedes to seek peace at any cost.
Turkish campaign
Awarded for his courage with Order of Saint Anna of the 1st Degree, Kulnev was invited to take charge of the vanguard of the Danube Army which fought against the Turks in BulgariaBulgaria
Bulgaria , 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...
.
During the Turkish Campaign of 1810
Russo-Turkish War, 1806-1812
The Russo-Turkish War was one of many wars fought between Imperial Russia and the Ottoman Empire.- Background :The war broke out in 1805–1806 against the background of the Napoleonic Wars...
, Kulnev was one of Russia's ablest generals. His bold leadership made itself felt at Shumla, Nikopol, 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...
, and Batin, giving the campaign a character of decision it had been lacking heretofore.
A conflict with the commander-in-chief, Nikolay Kamensky
Nikolay Kamensky
Count Nikolay Mikhailovich Kamensky was a Russian general who outlived his father, Field Marshal Mikhail Kamensky, by two years....
, forced him to leave the army, however.
Patriotic War
After Napoleon invaded Russia in 1812, Kulnev was entrusted with defending the roads leading to the capital, Saint PetersburgSaint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
. On July 3, his detachment took prisoner a French general and 200 cavalrymen.
On 18 July, he led 5,000 cavalrymen — who formed a vanguard of Wittgenstein's corps — against Marshal Oudinot in the Battle of Klyastitsy
Battle of Klyastitsy
The Battle of Klyastitsy, also called battle of Yakubovo, refers to a series of military engagements, which took place in 1812 near the village of Klyastitsy on the road between Polotsk and Sebezh. In this battle the Russian corps under the command of Peter Wittgenstein, stood up to the French...
. Taking prisoner 900 enemy soldiers, Kulnev crossed the Drissa River and clashed with a major French contingent. As the Russians came under heavy artillery fire, Kulnev was struck in the legs by a cannon ball and lost both limbs. He died from the effects of wounds received at this engagement.
Assessment
Although he didn't live to take part in the Battle of BorodinoBattle of Borodino
The Battle of Borodino , fought on September 7, 1812, was the largest and bloodiest single-day action of the French invasion of Russia and all Napoleonic Wars, involving more than 250,000 troops and resulting in at least 70,000 casualties...
and other famous battles of the Patriotic War, Kulnev was long remembered as a tough, impetuous, hot-tempered fighter. In 1830, the spot of his death was marked by a monument, with Zhukovsky
Vasily Zhukovsky
Vasily Andreyevich Zhukovsky was the foremost Russian poet of the 1810s and a leading figure in Russian literature in the first half of the 19th century...
's epitaph inscribed on it. In 1909, a hussar regiment was given his name.
A typical Romantic hero of the Napoleonic Wars, he emancipated his serfs and was reputed to live in poverty, in order to emulate the soldiers of Roman antiquity that were his ideal. It has been suggested that Dubrovsky
Dubrovsky
Dubrovsky is an unfinished novel by Alexander Pushkin, written in 1832 and published after Pushkin’s death in 1841.-Plot summary:Vladimir Dubrovsky is a young nobleman whose land is confiscated by a greedy and powerful aristocrat, Kirila Petrovitch Troekurov...
, a protagonist of Pushkin's eponymous novel, was modeled on Kulnev: Dubrovsky is described in the text as "a dark, swarthy 35-year-old, with a moustache and a beard, a genuine portrait of Kulnev". The Russian general is also the subject of Runeberg
Johan Ludvig Runeberg
Johan Ludvig Runeberg was a Finnish poet, and is the national poet of Finland. He wrote in the Swedish language....
's poem Kulneff (1848), which is part of The Tales of Ensign Stål
The Tales of Ensign Stål
The Tales of Ensign Stål is an epic poem written in Swedish by the Finland-Swedish author Johan Ludvig Runeberg, the national poet of Finland...
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- There were names in the Russian army,
- which wrote their names in history,
- who were brought here at the bosom of reputation,
- long before the war was on.
- BarclayMichael Andreas Barclay de TollyPrince Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly , was a Russian Field Marshal and Minister of War during Napoleon's invasion in 1812 and War of the Sixth Coalition.-Early life:...
, KamenskyNikolay KamenskyCount Nikolay Mikhailovich Kamensky was a Russian general who outlived his father, Field Marshal Mikhail Kamensky, by two years....
, BagrationPyotr BagrationPrince Pyotr Ivanovich Bagration was a general of the Russian army. He was a descendant of the Georgian royal family of the Bagrations.- Life :...
, - Every son of Finland knew them,
- and hard battles there were,
- where these men came forth.
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- But Kulnev no-one knew,
- Before the flame of warFinnish WarThe 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...
was alight; - Then he came like the storm at sea,
- Hardly even thought of, before he was known,
- Then he broke loose like the lightning in the sky,
- So great, and likewise so new,
- And not forgotten in our land
- from the first blow he gave.
- / translated by Göran Frilund /
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