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Raevsky (Раевский) Nikolay Nikolaevich
(1771—1829)

Nikolay Nikolaevich Rayevsky was a Russian general and statesman who achieved fame for his feats of arms during the Napoleonic wars. His family left a lasting legacy in Russian society and culture.

Nikolay Raevsky came from an old noble family of remote Polish ancestry (Łabędź Coat of Arms). His grandfather, Semyon Raevsky, was the Prosecutor of the Holy Synod. The family rose to prominence when Nikolay's father, colonel Nikolay Semyonovich, married Ekaterina Samoilova, a niece of Prince Potemkin. Nikolay Semyonovich did not live to see his son, as he died during the Russo-Turkish War, 1768-1774 in Iaşi several months before his son's birth.

Nikolay was brought up by his uncle, Count Alexander Samoylov, who had him enrolled in the Leib-Guard Semyonovsky Regiment at a very early age. On 30 April 1777 he was promoted to sergeant and on 1 January 1786 to ensign. On 23 February 1789 he was moved to Nizhegorodsky dragoon regiment in the rank of premier-major. With this regiment he took part in the Russo-Turkish War, 1787-1792 and distinguished himself at Bendery and Akkerman. In recognition of his valor, Raevsky was promoted on 1 September 1790 to lieutenant colonel and became the chief of a Cossack regiment.

After the peace treaty was concluded, he took part in the Polish-Russian War of 1792 with Nizhegorodsky dragoon regiment. For this campaign he received on 28 June 1792 the Order of St. George of 4th degree and the gold sword with an inscription for bravery.

When the war with Persia erupted in 1796, Raevsky under command of Count Valerian Zubov took part in the taking of Derbent and in other engagements.

Upon his ascension to the throne, Emperor Paul recalled the army back to Russia and had Raevsky dismissed from the military on account of his relationship to Potemkin, whom Paul detested. It was after Alexander I's assumption of the throne that Raevsky rejoined the army with the rank of Major General. On December 19 1801 he retired for family reasons.

General Raevsky in battle.After Russia's failures at the outbreak of the Napoleonic wars, Raevsky returned into the field on 25 April 1807. He served with Prince Peter Bagration in the vanguard of the Russian army. In the campaign of 1806-1807 he distinguished himself in the numerous battles and was awarded the Order of St. Vladimir of 3rd degree. Raevsky, who had sustained a wound in the Battle of Heilsberg, commanded chasseurs of the advance-guard in the Battle of Friedland.

After the Treaty of Tilsit was concluded, Raevsky proceeded to take part in the Finnish War and was present at every major engagement. For this campaign Raevsky received the Order of St. Vladimir of 2nd degree and obtained the rank of lieutenant-general. The war over, he followed Count Nikolay Kamensky to the Moldavian army, which took part in the Russo-Turkish War, 1806-1812. His bold leadership made itself felt in the taking of Silistra.

During Napoleon's Invasion of Russia Raevsky led the 7th Infantry Corps, a part of the 2nd Army led by Prince Peter Bagration. In the advance-guard he was responsible for delaying Davout's advance towards Moscow. After the Battle of Saltanovka he retreated to Smolensk where he took part in the heavy fighting for the city. During the Battle of Borodino he protected the right wing of the Russian Army, better known as the Raevsky Redoubt, winning the Order of St. George of 3rd degree. Later he pursued La Grande Armée and took part in the Battle of Maloyaroslavets and Battle of Krasnoye, in which he helped defeat Marshal Ney.

Rayevsky commanded the Grenadier Corps and protected the retreat of main forces during the Battle of Bautzen. After Austria and Prussia joined the Allies, Raevsky's corps joined the Bohemian Army commanded by Karl Philipp Fürst zu Schwarzenberg. He received the Order of St. Vladimir of 1st degree for the Battle of Kulm. Near Wachau he was seriously injured. For his feats of arms he was promoted Full General (October 8 1813) and received the Austrian Military Order of Maria Theresa of 3rd degree. When the Russian army entered Saxony, Raevsky was constrained to return to Russia on account of his poor health.

Having recovered from his illness, Raevsky rejoined the army at the Rhine, taking the command from Peter Wittgenstein and leading this army during the taking of Paris.

In 1794 Raevsky married Sofia Konstantinova, а granddaughter and heiress of the scientist Mikhail Lomonosov. They had two sons and four daughters. One of them, Ekaterina, was married in 1821 to Mikhail Fyodorovich Orlov, of Decembrist fame, and the other, Maria, married another prominent Decembrist, Prince Sergey Volkonsky, in 1825.

During his declining years, Rayevsky settled in Kiev. In May 1821, during a visit to the Caucasus, he contracted a friendship with young Alexander Pushkin. They proceeded together to the Crimea during one of the happiest and most productive voyages in Pushkin's career. Pushkin was on friendly terms with both of Rayevsky's sons, sons-in-laws and his stepbrother Vasily Davydov - all involved in the Decembrist Uprising of 1825.

A weeks after the uprising, old Raevsky was appointed a member of the State Council. Three years later, he died in his estate Boltyshki in the governorate of Kiev. His daughter, Maria Raevskaya, whose youthful frolics are presumed to have inspired Pushkin to write some of the most famous lines in the Russian language ("Eugene Onegin", I-XXXIII), accompanied her husband to Siberia; her courage was romanticised by Nekrasov in the long poem "Russian Women".

Russia, 2004, Smolensk, 1812

USSR, 1949, Pushkin reading his poems to Southern Society

Russia, Rayevskaya, Krasnodar region