Mikhail Kutuzov

In real life, Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov had the following character traits: Servility to those in power. The commander did not say unpleasant things to the monarchs, even when the situation required it. For example, during the war of 1805, Kutuzov was against the battle with Napoleon at Austerlitz, but did not dare to express his concerns to the tsar directly. Secrecy and prudence. Contemporaries described the military leader as a secretive, prudent and flattering courtier. Kutuzov was known as a great sly man, and Napoleon even called him "the old northern fox." Disdainful attitude towards the lives of the lower ranks. Kutuzov did not know the limits in maintaining discipline in the army, and punishments in the Russian army were very severe. Initiative. In service, Kutuzov sometimes showed surprising initiatives, for example, when he became the director of the cadet corps, he told the students that he would treat them not as children, but as soldiers. But later, at his own expense, he ordered uniforms to be sewn for the poorest students, secretly taking measurements of their clothes. Caring for the soldiers. The commander pitied and protected the soldiers in a fatherly way, did not consider them cannon fodder, but saw them as selfless defenders of the Fatherland. Wisdom. Kutuzov understood that there is an inevitable course of events that should not be interfered with. He recognized that at certain moments in the war it is better not to interfere, allowing history to develop arbitrarily. Foresight. For example, Kutuzov foresaw the defeat of the Russians in the Battle of Austerlitz and warned Tsar Alexander I about it. Unpretentiousness to the conditions of field life. The commander could be accommodated in any hut. Loyalty to his cause. Kutuzov was so loyal to his cause that he spent all night long developing plans for a military campaign.

From 1770 to 1790, Kutuzov participated in various military campaigns, including the Russo-Turkish War of 1787–1791. For his services, he was promoted to major general. The most significant page in his biography is the Patriotic War of 1812, when Kutuzov was appointed commander-in-chief of the Russian troops. He carried out a number of successful operations, as a result of which the French army was expelled from Russia. In early 1813, Kutuzov led military operations against French units in Poland and Prussia. On April 28, 1813, the commander died in the Prussian town of Bunzlau (now Boleslawiec in Poland) from pneumonia. Kutuzov's body was transported to St. Petersburg and buried in the Kazan Cathedral.

He was born in St. Petersburg into the family of Lieutenant General Illarion Matveyevich Golenishchev-Kutuzov and his wife Anna Illarionovna. In 1759 he entered the Artillery and Engineering School for the Nobility. In 1761 he graduated and, on the recommendation of Count Shuvalov, remained at the school to teach mathematics to children.