Baryatinsky, Alexander Ivanovich
BARYATINSKY, ALEXANDER IVANOVICH, (1814-1879), Russian soldier and governor of the Caucasus, was privately educated, entered the school of the ensigns of the Guard in his seventeenth year and, on the 8th of November 1833, received his commission of cornet in the Life Guards of the cesarevich Alexander. In 1835 he served with great gallantry in the Caucasus, and on his return to St Petersburg was rewarded with a gold sword "for valour." On the first of January 1836 he was attached to the suite of Alexander, and in 1845 was again ordered off to the Caucasus and again most brilliantly distinguished himself, especially in the attack on Shamyl's stronghold, for which he received the order of St George. In 1846 he assisted Fieldmarshal Paskievich to suppress the Cracow rising. From 1848 to 1856 he took a leading part in all the chief military events in the Caucasus, his most notable exploits being his victory at Mezeninsk in 1850 and his operations against Shamyl at Chechen. His energetic and at the same time systematic tactics inaugurated a new era of mountain warfare. On the 6th of January 1853 he was appointed adjutant-general and, on July 5th of the same year, chief of the staff. In 1854 he took part in the brilliant Kürük Dere campaign. On the 1st of January 1856 he became commander-in-chief of the Caucasian army, and, subsequently, governor of the Caucasus. As an administrator he showed himself fully worthy of his high reputation. Within three years of his appointment, the whole of the eastern Caucasus was subdued and the long elusive Shamyl was taken captive. Baryatinsky also conquered many of the tribes of the western Caucasus dwelling between the rivers Laba and Byelaya. For these fresh services he was created a fieldmarshal. But his health was now entirely broken by his strenuous labours, and on the 6th of December 1862 he was, at his own request, relieved of his post. He spent the last days of his life abroad and died at Geneva, after forty-eight years of active service.
See A. L. Zisserman, Fieldmarshal Prince A. I. Baryatinski (Russ.) (Moscow, 1888-1891).
Note - this article incorporates content from Encyclopaedia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, (1910-1911)
