Aleksey Petrovich Melissino (russian: Алексей Петрович Мелиссино; c. 1759–1813) was a Russian military commander during the

Patriotic War of 1812 The French invasion of Russia, also known as the Russian campaign, the Second Polish War, the Army of Twenty nations, and the Patriotic War of 1812 was launched by Napoleon Bonaparte to force the Russian Empire back into the continental block ...

, advancing to the rank of

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

. He was the last of the Melissino family in Russia.

Early life

He was the only son of artilleryman

Pyotr Melissino Pyotr Ivanovich Melissino ( gr, Πέτρος Μελισσηνός, Petros Melissinos, russian: Пётр Мелиссино, french: Pierre De Mellisino); c. 1726 – c. 1797) was a General of the Artillery of the Russian Empire and was widely con ...

( Greek: Πέτρος Μελισσηνός,

translit. Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one script to another that involves swapping letters (thus '' trans-'' + '' liter-'') in predictable ways, such as Greek → , Cyrillic → , Greek → the digraph , Armenian → or ...

Petros Melissinos) and his wife Maria Dmitrievna, born Kotsareva (died in 1801). Immediately after birth, he enrolled in the Guards.

Career

At age 16 (July 21, 1777) he began serving as a

sergeant Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...

. In 1783, Melissino was promoted to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

of the artillery. In 1789 he was transferred to 1st Hussar Sumy Regiment with the rank of

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

and took part in the

Turkish War The Great Turkish War (german: Großer Türkenkrieg), also called the Wars of the Holy League ( tr, Kutsal İttifak Savaşları), was a series of conflicts between the Ottoman Empire and the Holy League consisting of the Holy Roman Empire, Pola ...

with the regiment. For distinction in the Siege of Izmail, on the proposal of

Alexander Suvorov Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov (russian: Алекса́ндр Васи́льевич Суво́ров, Aleksándr Vasíl'yevich Suvórov; or 1730) was a Russian general in service of the Russian Empire. He was Count of Rymnik, Count of the Holy ...

, he was awarded the Order of St. George 4th degree. When he was with the regiment in Novorossiya, Melissino laid the foundation for the horse plants in this region and oversaw the improvement of horse breeds, ordering horses from England, Turkey and Arabia. In 1797, Colonel Melissino was dismissed from service, but in 1800 again enrolled in the Elisavetgrad Hussar Regiment. In 1801 he was promoted to Major General with the appointment from the chief of the Mariupol Hussar Regiment. In 1807, Melissino was entrusted with the formation of the Lubny Hussar Regiment. After he was appointed chief of this regiment, he took part in the

French invasion of Russia The French invasion of Russia, also known as the Russian campaign, the Second Polish War, the Army of Twenty nations, and the Patriotic War of 1812 was launched by Napoleon Bonaparte to force the Russian Empire back into the continental block ...

. On July 10, 1812, while commanding a separate detachment, he defeated Saxon General Reynier near the town of Yanov, for which he was awarded the Order of St. Anne of the 1st degree. On July 15, he captured an Austrian detachment of 2 thousand, with 8 guns and 4 banners in Kobryn. Then, in the forefront of Lieutenant General Baron Saken, Melissino participated in the battles of the Gornostaevichi and Vawkavysk. In 1813, he was in the rear of Miloradovich, covering the retreat of the Russian army from Lutzen to Dresden. During the Battle of Bautzen, Melissino was on the left flank and during the retreat of Russian army, he led the attack on French cuirassiers twice. On August 14, 1813 at Dresden, Melissino attacked the French Guards infantry and was killed at the head of his regiment, while bursting into the enemy's square.

Personal life

His widow Roxanne Mikhailovna, nee Princess Cantacuzino (niece of Rodion Cantacuzino), undertook a search for her husband's body, but could not managed to find the body. She recovered his blood-soaked uniform, along with a saddle and bridle. In her stay in Puglyai (Goretsky Uyezd,

Mogilev Governorate The Mogilev Governorate () or Government of Mogilev was a governorate () of the Russian Empire in the territory of the present day Belarus. Its capital was in Mogilev, referred to as Mogilev-on-the-Dnieper, or Mogilev Gubernskiy. The area of the ...

), she erected a monument to Melissino, under which the aforementioned uniform, trousers, saddle and bridle were kept inside a box. In the church of the village of Puglyai, before the revolution, orders by Melissino were kept in the tabernacle.

References

Sources

* Alexander Podmazo
''Dictionary of Russian generals, participants in military operations against the army of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1812-1815.''
TriTe studio, 1996, ISNN 0869-20011

External links

Military Encyclopedia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Melissino, Aleksey Petrovich 1759 births 1813 deaths Imperial Russian Army generals Recipients of the Order of St. George of the Fourth Degree Russian commanders of the Napoleonic Wars Russian people of Greek descent

Aleksey Alexey, Alexei, Alexie, Aleksei, or Aleksey (russian: Алексе́й ; bg, Алексей ) is a Russian and Bulgarian male first name deriving from the Greek ''Aléxios'' (), meaning "Defender", and thus of the same origin as the Latin Al ...