Raevsky, Nikolay Nikolaevich

Russian commander, hero of the Patriotic War of 1812, cavalry general (1813).
"A witness of the Catherine century, a monument of the twelfth year, a man without prejudices, with a strong character and sensitive, he involuntarily attracts anyone who only deserves to understand and appreciate his high qualities", - said Pushkin about him. Being the grand-nephew of the famous favorite of the Empress Catherine II G.A. Potemkin and being brought up in the house of the maternal grandfather of Senator N.B. Samoilov, Nikolai Raevsky received an excellent education at home. In 1774, according to the customs of that time, he was assigned as a sergeant to the Semenovsky Guards Regiment, where he entered to serve with the rank of ensign in 1786. In 1812, Raevsky, commanding the 26th division in Bagration's army, delayed the advance of the French troops. Near Smolensk, the general defended the city against superior enemy forces for 24 hours. During the Battle of Borodino, Raevsky with his corps stood on the right flank of the left wing of the Russian army, against which almost all French forces were directed. The brilliant defense of the redoubt, which later received his name, gave the Russian commander a lasting glory. At Maloyaroslavets, he, together with General D.S.Dokhturov, successfully defended the Kaluga road, and in the battle near the village. Red contributed a lot to the final defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte's army.

In the overseas campaigns of 1813-14. Raevsky commanded a grenadier corps, was wounded in the Battle of Leipzig, and at the same time was promoted to the rank of general from the cavalry, ending his combat path under the walls of Paris. After the end of hostilities, the general commanded the 4th Infantry Corps.

In the fall of 1824, Raevsky, at his own request, was dismissed on leave "until the illness was cured." The next year was the saddest in the general's life. First, his mother, Ekaterina Nikolaevna, died, and in December, after the uprising on Senate Square, three people close to him were arrested at once: his brother Vasily Lvovich and the husbands of his daughters, M.F. Orlov and S.G. Volkonsky. They were all expelled from the capital. Raevsky's sons, Alexander and Nikolai, who were found not guilty, were also involved in the investigation of the Decembrists' case. At the end of 1826, the commander forever said goodbye to his daughter Maria, who had gone to Siberia to her exiled husband.

Nikolai Nikolaevich Raevsky died on September 16 (28), 1829 in the village. Boltyshka of the Chigirinsky district of the Kiev province and was buried in the family burial vault in the village. Reasoning. On his tombstone are inscribed the words: "He was a shield in Smolensk, in Paris the sword of Russia."