Alexander Suvorov (24 November 1729-18 May 1800) was a Russian general and military theorist who enjoyed a defeatless career in wars with the Ottoman Turks, Poles, and the French.
Biography[]
One of Russia's greatest generals, Alexander Suvorov was born into a military family and chose an army career from an early age, despite his slight physique and sickly constitution. He soon overcame his physical weaknesses, however, and proved a tough leader, performing well in the Seven Years' War. He was appointed colonel in 1762. Suvorov fought against the Ottoman Turks and the Poles in his subsequent campaigns as a senior commander under Catherine the Great. Although neither offered first-rate opposition, he found opportunities to flaunt his tactical commitment to speed of movement and violence of attack. In the Russo-Turkish War of 1787-1792, his decisive defeat of an Ottoman army encamped at Focsani, together with his storming of the fortresses of Ochakov and Izmail, contrasted starkly with the inertia of other Russian commanders. He was widely criticized for massacres committed by his army in Warsaw during the suppression of the Polish Kosciuszko Uprising in 1794. His stated view was that it was better to kill 7,000 and end a war than prolong it and kill 100,000.
Suvorov trained his men rigorously but still won their affection. Despite this, he fell out of favor with the new czar, Paul I, who wanted more formal discipline. In February 1799, however, he was recalled to lead an army in northern Italy against the forces of the French Revolution. He won a sreies of whirlwind victories, culminating at Novi in August with a French retreat. But failures elsewhere left his army exposed, and he had to lead a fighting wtihdrawal across the Alps in winter, returning his men to the Rhine. He died soon after.