Sivers Egor Karlovich

Egor Karlovich, Count Sievers, engineer-lieutenant-general At the beginning of the Patriotic War of 1812, Count Yegor Karlovich Sivers was appointed chief of engineers and officers of the Ways of Communication in the corps of Lieutenant-General Count Peter Khristianovich Wittgenstein. This appointment was very important, since the Russian army was in dire need of sapper and pioneer teams. There were no pontoons in the corps where Count Sievers served, and therefore, at each crossing, engineers were forced to build bridges for a long time, often under enemy fire. For the first time, he ensured a fast crossing of the river in the battle of Klyastitsa, when a detachment of Lieutenant General Yakov Petrovich Kulnev, consisting of the Grodno Hussar and Yamburg Dragoon regiments, descended to the shore, trying to find a ford in order to cross to the other side. Seeing this, Count Sievers immediately built a bridge under the fierce fire of the enemy and provided a crossing not only for General Kulnev's detachment, but also for other troops. He was just as quickly able to build a bridge in the battle of Polotsk. After the capture of Polotsk, Count Sivers built a crossing over the Dvina, and then ensured the movement of Count Wittgenstein's corps to the Berezina in a fast march. His award in 1812 was the diamond insignia of the Order of St. Anna, 2nd degree, the major general and the Order of St. Vladimir, 3rd degree.In the campaign of 1813, Count Yegor Karlovich Sivers was appointed commander of the newly formed Sapper Regiment and soon became Head of the Army Engineers. While after the end of hostilities in Paris, Count Sievers met and studied everything that was interesting about the engineering part and sent many models from Paris to St. Petersburg for Russian engineering schools.