Vasily Vasilievich Orlov-Denisov

The glorious Russian Cossacks did not remain aloof from the struggle against the French invaders in 1812. The name of the brave Don Cossack V.V. Orlov-Denisov is forever inscribed in the battle pages of the Patriotic War of 1812.

Vasily Vasilyevich was born in 1775 into the family of the ataman, the Cossack cavalry general Vasily Petrovich Orlov, who was a great Don landowner. Vasily Vasilyevich's mother is Daria Fyodorovna, nee Countess Denisova, daughter of a cavalry general and the first count from the Don Cossack estate Fyodor Petrovich Denisov (it is from his grandfather that 26-year-old Vasily will receive the count's title and Denisov's family prefix to his main surname). Began in the ranks of the Don Cossack army. Already in 1788 he was promoted to the rank of centurion (and this at 13 years old!), and for two years he served in the Black Sea, in the border Cossack detachment, protecting the empire from Turkish troops. Later, he was transferred to service in St. Petersburg, where in 1791 Orlov received the rank of captain, and soon a military sergeant-major. In January 1811, Count Orlov was awarded the rank of adjutant general for his numerous services to Russia. I found out the very first, since I was carrying guards with my Cossacks on the Neman River, and immediately sent a messenger to his leadership with a message about the beginning of hostilities. He also gave the first battle to the attacking French. Orlov-Denisov also took part in the Borodino battle. Being with his Cossacks in the corps of the cavalry of General Uvarov, he, together with this corps, crossed the Kolocha River and, in a combined-arms structure, strikes at the left French wing. The sudden appearance of cavalry and Cossacks from the left flank prompted Napoleon to stop the attack of the Guards troops, which gave Kutuzov a respite to strengthen the central positions of the Russian army.Soon after Tarutin, Vasily Vasilyevich's Cossack detachment continued a series of heroic deeds: after the battle at Maloyaroslavets, Orlov-Denisov went to , where, having strongly pushed aside the French, he took prisoner many soldiers and the Napoleonic archive of the secret office. After a series of brilliant battles, in which Vasily Orlov-Denisov shows himself not only as a brave warrior, but also as an excellent commander, Alexander I appoints him as the head of his personal convoy, which for Count Orlov meant an almost irreplaceable presence with the personality of the Russian emperor. General Orlov-Denisov, a participant in the 1812 war, died on January 24, 1843, and was buried in the church of the Kharkov Transfiguration Monastery. The portrait is in the Military Gallery of the Hermitage.