Count Peter Essen (russian: Пётр Кири́ллович Э́ссен, Pyotr Kirillovich Essen; 11 August 1772 – 23 September 1844) was a Baltic German

General of the Infantry General of the Infantry is a military rank of a General officer in the infantry and refers to: * General of the Infantry (Austria) * General of the Infantry (Bulgaria) * General of the Infantry (Germany) ('), a rank of a general in the German Impe ...

museum.ru
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count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

(1833). He belongs to the

bourgeois The bourgeoisie ( , ) is a social class, equivalent to the middle or upper middle class. They are distinguished from, and traditionally contrasted with, the proletariat by their affluence, and their great cultural and financial capital. They ...

Essen family from Pärnu (not to be confused with the Baltic German noble

Essen family Essen or von Essen is the surname of a Baltic German and Swedish noble family. History The first known ancestor was Thomas von Essen (d. 1615–1627) who was from Lääne län in Estonia. His son Alexander von Essen received Swedish nobility, ...

, which had the ''von'' prefix in the name). Essen's only daughter, Alexandrine Essen (1816–1868), married count Pontus von Stenbock-Fermor (1806–1866) in 1835, at which point they began using the joint name Essen-Stenbock-Fermor.

Career

Essen enlisted as a sergeant in the Life Cuirassier Regiment in 1787, and transferred to the Pavlovsky heir battalion in 1790. He received promotions through the ranks, and in 1796 was promoted to lieutenant and transferred to the Life Guards Izmailovskiy Regiment. In 1796 he was promoted to colonel and in 1798 was promoted to major-general, and became head of the Vyborg

musketeer A musketeer (french: mousquetaire) was a type of soldier equipped with a musket. Musketeers were an important part of early modern warfare particularly in Europe as they normally comprised the majority of their infantry. The musketeer was a pre ...

regiment. He was promoted to lieutenant general in 1800. In August 1800, Essen was appointed military governor of

Vyborg Vyborg (; rus, Вы́борг, links=1, r=Výborg, p=ˈvɨbərk; fi, Viipuri ; sv, Viborg ; german: Wiborg ) is a town in, and the administrative center of, Vyborgsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It lies on the Karelian Isthmus ne ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

, and chief of the garrison of the Gorchakov yborgregiment. In 1802 he was appointed head of the Vyborg and Shlisselbourg musketeer regiments. In 1807 he was awarded the Order of St. George, third class, for his actions in the

Battle of Eylau The Battle of Eylau, or Battle of Preussisch-Eylau, was a bloody and strategically inconclusive battle on 7 and 8 February 1807 between Napoléon's ''Grande Armée'' and the Imperial Russian Army under the command of Levin August von Bennigs ...

. Essen headed the 8th, 27th, and 4th Infantry Divisions of the army during 1816 and 1817, and was appointed military governor of

Orenburg Orenburg (russian: Оренбу́рг, ), formerly known as Chkalov (1938–1957), is the administrative center of Orenburg Oblast, Russia. It lies on the Ural River, southeast of Moscow. Orenburg is also very close to the Kazakhstan-Russia bor ...

in 1817, and was appointed manager of the civil part of the province. In 1819, he was made a general of infantry. From 1830 to 1842 he served as military governor-general of St. Petersburg and a member of the State Council. In 1834 he was awarded the

Order of St. Andrew The Order of St. Andrew the Apostle the First-Called (russian: Орден Святого апостола Андрея Первозванного, translit=Orden Svyatogo apostola Andreya Pervozvannogo) is the highest order conferred by both the ...

for his service.

Awards

* Russia's Order of St. Andrew (22 April 1834), diamonds (16 April 1841); St. Vladimir 1st century bol. kr. (12 February 1812), 2nd century (18 February 1808); St. Alexander Nevsky (19 December 1809), diamonds (23 August 1811), White Eagle (22 April 1834); St. George 3rd Class (8 April 1807); Sant'Anna 1st century diamonds (3 October 1799), 2nd century (15 May 1798), 3rd st. (28 January 1798); St. John of Jerusalem. * Foreign orders: Prussian

Order of the Black Eagle The Order of the Black Eagle (german: Hoher Orden vom Schwarzen Adler) was the highest order of chivalry in the Kingdom of Prussia. The order was founded on 17 January 1701 by Elector Friedrich III of Brandenburg (who became Friedrich I, King ...

(29 June 1842) and the Red Eagle 1st century (1807). * Other: gold sword "for bravery" with diamonds (18 October 1809), silver medal in memory of 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 ...

(1814), a bronze medal in memory of the Patriotic War of 1812 (1814), Medal of Honor "for XLV years of faultless service" (22 August 1837; XL years – 22 August 1831; XXXV years – 22 August 1830).

References

* Patriotic War of 1812. Encyclopedia. – M.: Rosspen, 2004, s.819–820. * Dictionary of the Russian generals, members fighting against the army of Napoleon Bonaparte in the years 1812–1815. / / Russia archive. T. VII. – M.: studio TRITE N. Mikhalkov, 1996, s.631–632. {{DEFAULTSORT:Essen, Peter Kirillovich 1772 births 1844 deaths Baltic-German people Imperial Russian Army generals