Birthday anniversary of Lieutenant General of the Russian Army, a Hero of the Patriotic War 1812 Nikolai Alexeevich Tuchkov

On April 16 (27), 1765 in the family of an eminent statesman Alexei Vasilyevich Tuchkov was born the future Lieutenant General of the Russian Army, a hero of the Patriotic War 1812 Nikolai Alexeevich Tuchkov.

Tuchkov began his military service in 1778 as an adjutant of Feldzeugmeister General (the chief of artillery). After his participation in the Russo-Swedish War of 1788-1790, Tuchkov was transferred to Murom infantry regiment. In 1792-1794 he commanded a battalion in Poland and participated in suppressing the revolt led by Tadeusz Kosciuszko. In 1794 he distinguished himself in the battle near Matsievitsy and was awarded with the Cross of St. George and given a rank of colonel.

In 1799 during the war with France Nikolai Alexeevich joined the Swiss campaign led by A. V. Suvorov. He was a member of A. M. Rimsky-Korsakov corps and participated in the battle near Zurich. For courage and bravery displayed during the Swiss campaign Tuchkov was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general. During the Russo-Prussian-French war of 1805-1807 Nikolai Alexeevich distinguished himself in the battle near Preussisch Eylau; during the Russo-Swedish war of 1808-1809 he commanded a division.

In January of 1811 Tuchkov was assigned the military governor of Kamenets-Podolsk.

When the Patriotic War of 1812 began Tuchkov was appointed to the 1st Western Army as the commander of the 3rd infantry corps which consisted of the 1st grenadier division and the 3rd infantry division. Tuchkov’s troops supported the 4th infantry corps in the battle near Ostrovna, defended Smolensk and fought near Lubino. During the battle of Borodino Tuchkov’s corps held the line at the left flank of the Russian Army near the village of Utitsa blocking the access to the Old Smolensk road. During the stubborn fight for the key height the general led the counterattack of Pavlovsk grenadier regiment and was wounded seriously in the chest.

On October 30 (November 11), 1812 after three weeks of suffering Nikolai Alexeevich died. He was buried in the territory of Tolga monastery in Yaroslavl.

In September of 1990 on the wall of the Church of the Savior in Yaroslavl was placed the memorial plaque with the following inscription on it: “In this Church of the Savior is buried a Hero of the Patriotic War of 1812 who died wounded in the Battle of Borodino, Lieutenant General Nikolai Alexeevich Tuchkov”.

Lit.: Гаврилов И. В. Тучковы: Сб. М., 1998; Генерал-лейтенант Тучков (1-й) Николай Алексеевич [Электронный ресурс] // Музеи России. 1996-2014. URL: http://www.museum.ru/1812/persons/VGZD/vg_t24.html; Смирнов А. А. Тучков Николай Алексеевич // Словарь русских генералов, участников боевых действий против армии Наполеона Бонапарта в 1812-1815 гг. // Российский архив. Т.7. М., 1996. С.584; То же [Электронный ресурс] // URL: http://www.museum.ru/museum/1812/Persons/Slovar/sl_t24.html.

Based on the Presidential Library’s materials:

Доу Дж. Портрет Николая Алексеевича Тучкова (1765-1812) (1-й) [Изоматериал]. Не позднее 1825 г.