Ivan Adamovich
Ivan Stepanovich Adamovich (Russian: Иван Степанович Адамович; 1752–1813) was a highly-decorated Russian general who fought at the Battle of Borodino, commanding the 1st Corps of the Reserve Army.[1][2]
Ivan Stepanovich Adamovich | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1752 Slavo-Serbia, Imperial Russia |
| Died | after 1813 Saint Petersburg, Imperial Russia |
| Allegiance |  |
| Service/ | Army |
| Years of service | ?–1798 1806–1813 |
| Rank | Major General |
| Battles/wars | Persian Expedition of 1796 War of the Fourth Coalition War of the Fifth Coalition Patriotic War of 1812 |
| Awards | Order of St. Anna 2nd class Golden Sword for Bravery |
Ivan Adamovich fought the Ottoman Turks and Napoleonic France as a seasoned and highly experienced warrior who long ago earned his stripes under fire. In 1794 Adamovich was pensioned with the rank of major general, aged 41. It was Alexander I, Paul I's successor, who recalled him to active service on 17 September 1812 with great honors. The events of 1812 forced him to come out of retirement and engage himself in the battle against the invading French by leading the 1st Corps of the Reserve Army during the Battle of Borodino. The last written traces about him are from 1813 where it is said that he died with his boots on while serving Imperial Russia.
Biography
Adamovich came from an old noble family based in the region of the Serbian Banat Military Frontier (now part of Hungary and Romania), where his father Stepan Adamovich was in the Austrian military service before emigrating to Russia in 1752. After graduating from the Cadet Corps in St. Petersburg, he joined the Imperial Russian Army as a young, career soldier.[3]
He was a lieutenant colonel with the Preobrazhensky Regiment before being promoted to major general and appointed chef of the Pavlovsky Grenadier Regiment on the 14th of February 1789. He was awarded the Russian Order of Saint Anna on the 10th of November 1796. Two years later, on the 26th of August 1798, he took his first retirement, but a few years later he became determined to be in the army, once again. On the 8th of January 1807, during the War of the Fourth Coalition, he was awarded a Golden Weapon "For Bravery". On 13th of May 1809 a patent for the rank of General was issued to Major General Ivan Adamovich signed by Alexander I and Count Aleksey Arakcheyev for Adamovich's conspicuous role in the War of the Fifth Coalition. Three years later, he retired for the second time, but on the 5th of September 1812, he returned to the army once again, joining his comrade-at-arms in the Battle of Borodino.
In the autumn of 1812 Field Marshall Mikhail Kutuzov determined to create a proper reserve from the Narodnoe Opolchenie or people's militia. In October he sent Ivan Adamovich to Arzramas to organize reserve formations as part of this program. This done, in 1813 Adamovich was named to serve as commander of one of four brigades making up to 20,000- men Reserve Army that backed the main Russian force as it crossed the Niemen river.
Finally, on the 16th of December 1813, he retired for good.[4][5]
Awards and decorations
- Order of Saint Anna, 2nd degree (10 November 1796)
- Golden Weapon "For Bravery" (8 January 1807)[6]
See also
References
- Patent for the rank of General, 1809:https://www.zemlyanka-v.com/shop/russia/dokumenty-pisma/patent-na-generalskijj-chin-1809/
- "Русский генералитет". www.museum.ru. Retrieved 2019-08-25.
- "The patent for the rank of General, 1809 (Russian Empire) buy in military antiques Zemlyanka". zemlyanka-v.com. Retrieved 2019-08-25.
- http://www.museum.ru/museum/1812/Persons/RUSS/ra_a05.html
- http://www.museum.ru/museum/1812/Persons/RUSS/ra_a05.html
- https://www.zemlyanka-v.com/shop/russia/dokumenty-pisma/patent-na-generalskijj-chin-1809/
- http://www.museum.ru/museum/1812/Persons/RUSS/ra_a05.html