Nikolai Aleksandrovich Tretyakov (russian: Третьяков, Николай Александрович; 2 October 1854 – 5 February 1917) was a

military engineer Military engineering is loosely defined as the art, science, and practice of designing and building military works and maintaining lines of military transport and military communications. Military engineers are also responsible for logistics b ...

and general in the

Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army (russian: Ру́сская импера́торская а́рмия, tr. ) was the armed land force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian Ar ...

, noted for his heroic role in the

Siege of Port Arthur The siege of Port Arthur ( ja, 旅順攻囲戦, ''Ryojun Kōisen''; russian: link=no, Оборона Порт-Артура, ''Oborona Port-Artura'', August 1, 1904 – January 2, 1905) was the longest and most violent land battle of the Russ ...

during the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...

Biography

Tretyakov was born in

Simbirsk Ulyanovsk, known until 1924 as Simbirsk, is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Ulyanovsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Volga River east of Moscow. Population: The city, founded as Simbirsk (), w ...

, where his family were members of the local nobility. He graduated from the 2nd Moscow Military Gymnasium on August 10, 1872 and entered military service. In 1875, after graduation from the Nikolaev Engineering School, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant. He was promoted to lieutenant on July 13, 1877 and returned to the Nikolaev Academy of Engineering from which he graduated in 1878, and was subsequently promoted to captain. He became a lieutenant colonel in April 1892, and was assigned command of a

sapper A sapper, also called a pioneer (military), pioneer or combat engineer, is a combatant or soldier who performs a variety of military engineering duties, such as breaching fortifications, demolitions, bridge-building, laying or clearing minefie ...

company at

Vladivostok Vladivostok ( rus, Владивосто́к, a=Владивосток.ogg, p=vɫədʲɪvɐˈstok) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai, Russia. The city is located around the Zolotoy Rog, Golden Horn Bay on the Sea ...

in April 1893. On May 21, 1895 he became commander of the 1st East Siberian Demining Brigade. Promoted to colonel on December 25, 1899, Tretyakov was with the Russian expeditionary forces in the

Boxer Rebellion The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, the Boxer Insurrection, or the Yihetuan Movement, was an anti-foreign, anti-colonial, and anti-Christian uprising in China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, by ...

in northern

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. On February 27, 1901, he was appointed commander of the 5th East Siberian Rifles regiment. During the

of 1904-1905, Tretyakov distinguished himself with a heroic defense against the

Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...

at the

Battle of Nanshan The was one of many vicious land battles of the Russo-Japanese War. It took place on 24–26 May 1904 across a two-mile-wide defense line across the narrowest part of the Liáodōng Peninsula, covering the approaches to Port Arthur and on th ...

, during which he was wounded. He was promoted to major general on October 22, 1904 and continued to command the 5th East Siberian Rifles throughout the

. After the end of the war, on October 17, 1910, Tretyakov became inspector of field engineering in the

Kiev Military District The Kiev Military District (; , abbreviated ) was a military district of the Imperial Russian Army and subsequently of the Red Army and Soviet Armed Forces. It was first formed in 1862, and was headquartered in Kiev (Kyiv) for most of its exis ...

. He was promoted to lieutenant general on December 6, 1910. He was made commander of the 10th Siberian Rifle Division on February 28, 1911 and of the 3rd Siberian Infantry Division on October 12, 1911. At the start of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, from August 12, 1914 Tretyakov was in command of the 1st Siberian Infantry Division. He was appointed commander of the Russian 23rd Army Corps on September 5, 1915, but asked to be transferred to the reserves only a week later. In December 1915, he was appointed commander of the Russian XLII Army Corps, and on March 20, 1916 to that of the Russian XXXVII Army Corps. He was promoted to Engineer-general, (a military-technical rank in the Imperial Russian Army), on December 6, 1916. Tretyakov died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

on February 27, 1917.

Awards

Order of St. Stanislaus The Order of Saint Stanislaus ( pl, Order Św. Stanisława Biskupa Męczennika, russian: Орден Святого Станислава), also spelled Stanislas, was a Polish order of knighthood founded in 1765 by King Stanisław August Ponia ...

3rd degree with swords and bow, 1879 * Order of Saint Anna ribbon bar

Order of St. Anne 3rd degree 1880 * Order of Saint Stanislaus Ribbon

2nd degree 1887. * Order of Saint Anna ribbon bar

Order of St. Anne 2nd degree, 1891 * Saint vladimir (bande)

Order of St Vladimir The Imperial Order of Saint Prince Vladimir (russian: орден Святого Владимира) was an Imperial Russian order established on by Empress Catherine the Great, Catherine II in memory of the deeds of Vladimir I, Prince of Kiev, ...

4th degree, 1895. *

Gold Sword for Bravery The Gold Sword for Bravery (russian: Золотое оружие "За храбрость") was a Russian award for bravery. It was set up with two grades on 27 July 1720 by Peter the Great, reclassified as a public order in 1807 and abolished ...

, 1901 *

, 3rd degree with swords, 1903 * RUS Order of Saint George 4th class ribbon 2000

Order of St. George The Order of Saint George (russian: Орден Святого Георгия, Orden Svyatogo Georgiya) is the highest military decoration of the Russian Federation. Originally established on 26 November 1769 Julian (7 December 1769 Gregorian) a ...

, 4th class, 1904 * Order of Saint Stanislaus Ribbon

1st degree with sword, 1905 * Order of Saint Anna ribbon bar

Order of St. Anne 1st degree with swords, 1907 * Saint vladimir (bande)

, 2nd degree, 1913 * Order of the White Eagle War Merit ribbon

Order of the White Eagle, with swords, 1916 * Order of Saint Anna ribbon bar

Order of St. Anne 4th degree, 1916

References

* Connaughton, Richard (2003). ''Rising Sun and Tumbling Bear''. Cassell. * Jukes, Geoffry. ''The Russo-Japanese War 1904–1905''. Osprey Essential Histories. (2002). . * Kowner, Rotem (2006). ''Historical Dictionary of the Russo-Japanese War''. Scarecrow. {{DEFAULTSORT:Tretyakov, Nikolai A. 1854 births 1917 deaths Imperial Russian Army generals People of the Boxer Rebellion Russian military personnel of the Russo-Japanese War Russian people of World War I Recipients of the Order of Saint Stanislaus (Russian), 1st class Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 1st class Recipients of the Order of St. Vladimir, 2nd class Recipients of the Gold Sword for Bravery Deaths from pneumonia in Russia Russian military engineers Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Poland)