Peter Lacy (26 September 1678-30 April 1751) was an Irish-born general of the Imperial Russian Army.
Biography[]
Peter Lacy was born in Killeedy, County Limerick, Ireland in 1678, and he came from a family of Irish nobility. He fought for the Jacobites during the Williamite War in Ireland before joining the "Wild Geese" in fleeing to France. After losing many of his relatives in the French Royal Army, Lacy served in the Austrian Reichsarmee for two years and then offered his services to the Imperial Russian Army. Lacy first fought for Russia at the Battle of Narva, and he became a colonel in 1706. After participating in the capture of Riga, Lacy was appointed commander of the city's castle, and he served as the city's governor from 1729 to 1740; he also commanded St. Petersburg from 1725 to 1728. Despite never becoming proficient in Russian, Lacy became one of Russia's best-paid generals (of only six generals), and its only foreigner by 1728. Lacy became one of Empress Anna of Russia's most trusted generals, commanding troops in Poland during the War of the Polish Succession and taking Azov Fortress from the Ottoman Turks during the Russo-Turkish War of 1735-1739. In 1741, Lacy was named commander-in-chief by regent Anna Leopoldovna, fighting in the Russo-Swedish War of 1741-1743. After the war, he commanded troops in Livonia until his death in 1751.