Pyotr Bagration

Born into the Bagrationi dynasty in Kizlyar in 1765, Bagration enlisted in the Imperial Russian Army in 1782 and spent his early career in grinding regional campaigns: the Russo-Circassian War, the siege of Ochakov in 1788, the suppression of the Kościuszko Uprising in Poland in 1794. He made his name under Field Marshal Suvorov during the 1799 Italian and Swiss campaigns against France. When Russia joined the coalition against Napoleon in 1805, Bagration's successful defense at Schöngrabern that November allowed retreating Russian forces to link up with Kutuzov's main army; a month later he commanded the right wing of the doomed Russo-Austrian force at Austerlitz. He fought in Finland against Sweden and on the Danube against the Turks before the French invasion of 1812 put him in command of one of two main Russian armies. He resisted Barclay de Tolly's scorched-earth policy, arguing for a decisive engagement, and finally got his battle at Borodino on 7 September, commanding the left wing around fortifications that now bear his name. He was mortally wounded there and died seventeen days later.