Raevskii, Nikolai

Born Sept. 14 (25), 1771, in St. Petersburg; died Sept. 16 (28), 1829, in the village of Boltyshka, Chigirin District, Kiev Province. Hero of the Patriotic War of 1812; general of the cavalry (1813).

Raevskii was promoted to officer in 1786 and saw service in wars with Turkey from 1788 to 1790 and Poland from 1792 to 1794 and in the Persian Campaign of 1796. He was placed in retirement in 1797. When the war with France broke out in 1805, Raevskii returned to the army and participated in the Russo-Austro-French War of 1805 and in the Russo-Prussian-French War of 1806–07 in the detachment of General P. I. Bagration, under whose command he also distinguished himself in the Russo-Swedish War of 1808–09 and in 1810–11 in the war with Turkey.

In the Patriotic War of 1812, Raevskii commanded the VII Infantry Corps and operated successfully in combat near Salta-novka, in the Smolensk battle of 1812, in the battle of Borodino of 1812 (the defense of the Raevskii battery), near Maloiarosla-vets, and elsewhere. He was outstanding for his bravery and skillful command of the troops. Raevskii served in the foreign campaigns of 1813–14 and then commanded a corps in southern Russia. He retired in 1824. He was on friendly terms with A. S. Pushkin and was close to the Decembrists. (His sons-in-law S. G. Volkonskii and M. F. Orlov and his cousin V. L. Da-vydov were Decembrists.) Raevskii was a member of the State Council from 1826.