Mikhail Kamensky, Russian field marshal (b. 1738)
Count Mikhail Fedotovich Kamensky (Russian: Михаи́л Федо́тович Каме́нский; 19 May 1738 – 12 August 1809) was a Russian Field Marshal prominent in the Catherinian wars and the Napoleonic campaigns.
Mikhail Kamensky served as a volunteer in the French army in 1758-1759. He then took part in the Seven Years' War. In 1783, Kamensky was appointed Governor General of Ryazan and Tambov guberniyas. During the war with Turkey, in 1788, he defeated the Turks at the Moldavian settlement of Gangur. When prince Potemkin fell ill and entrusted his command of the army to Mikhail Kakhovsky, Kamensky refused to subordinate himself, referring to his seniority. For this, he was discharged from military service.
In 1797, Emperor Paul I granted Kamensky the title of count and made him retire. In 1806, Kamensky was appointed commander-in-chief of the Russian army in Prussia, which had been fighting the French armies of Napoleon. After six days of being in command, on the eve of the battle of Pułtusk, he transferred the command to Feodor Buxhoeveden under pretence of illness and left for his estate near Oryol.
Kamensky was notorious for his maltreatment of his serfs, and he was killed by one of them in 1809 at the age of 71. His death occasioned a sentimental poem by Vasily Zhukovsky. He was the father of Generals Sergei Kamensky and Nikolai Kamensky.
British actress Helen Mirren is one of his descendents.
1809Aug, 12
Mikhail Kamensky
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Events on 1809
- 16Jan
Battle of Corunna
Peninsular War: The British defeat the French at the Battle of La Coruña. - 10Apr
War of the Fifth Coalition
Napoleonic Wars: The War of the Fifth Coalition begins when forces of the Austrian Empire invade Bavaria. - 20Apr
Battle of Abensberg
Two Austrian army corps in Bavaria are defeated by a First French Empire army led by Napoleon at the Battle of Abensberg on the second day of a four-day campaign that ended in a French victory. - 17May
Papal States
Emperor Napoleon I orders the annexation of the Papal States to the French Empire. - 5Jul
Battle of Wagram
The largest battle of the Napoleonic Wars, the Battle of Wagram is fought between the French and Austrian Empires.