Suvorov A. V.
Alexander Suvorov was born in the family of General Vasily Ivanovich Suvorov.
He came of a very old Russian noble family. One of his ancestors was Mikhail Ivanovich Suvorov that served in the Russian Army during the reign of Tsar Ioann (Ivan) the IV-th (the Terrible). His father Vasily Suvorov was a batman of Tsar Peter the Great and his Aide-de-Camp in real. By order of Tsar Peter he translated into Russian the book by famous French engineer Vauban that was published in St.Petersburg uner the title "The Methods of City Fortifying". After the death of Peter the Great Vasily Suvorov was transferred to the Leib-Guards Semenovsky regiment that was located in Moscow from 1728. Afterwards he became a member of the Russian Senate. Also he was the author of the first Russian military dictionary. He began to teach his son Alexander the principles of Artillery, Fortification, Military History from the very young age.
In 1742 Alexander Suvorov was enlisted to the Leib-Guards Semenovsky regiment as a private of musketeers (in excess of the staff and without salary).
Suvorov's active military service began in 1748.
In 1754 he got his first officer rank - lieutenant and was appointed to the Ingermanlandsky Infantry regiment.
In 1756 - 1763 he served in the Military Board in the rank of Premier-Major.
Suvorov got his baptism of fire in the Seven Years War of 1756-1763. In the beginning of this war he was in the rear in commissariat service. He was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel and transferred to the Kazansky Infantry regiment.
In 1759 Suvorov became an officer of the Russian Army General Headquarters and got the post of "general and division officer of the day".
In August of 1762 Colonel Suvorov became the commander of the Astrakhansky Infantry regiment. Then from 1763 to 1769 he commanded the Suzdalsky Infantry regiment that was billeted in New Ladoga. In this period he wrote his well-known in the Russian Army "Regimental Instructions" (or "Suzdal Regulations") that contained the main rules and regulations of soldiers training and internal service and battle training. Under Suvorov's command the Suzdalsky regiment very soon became one of the best in the Russian Army.
In 1768 - 1772 years in the period of the first division of Poland Suvorov with the Suzdalsky regiment took part in the military actions in Poland fighting against the troops of the Polish Confederation. The Confederats fought against Polish King Stanislav Poniatovsky that was supported by Russia.
In this campaign Suvorov commanding a brigade and separated detached troops made swift movements and gained many victories often having much lesser troops than the Confederates. In 1770 Suvorov got the rank of Major-General.
The military operations in Poland made Suvorov well-known in the Russian Army and Empress Catherine saw the future Great Commander in him. Suvorov was rewarded with the St.George Order of 4-th Class.
In August of 1774 Suvorov was sent to supress Pugachov's revolt, but the main rebel forces had been crushed by the troops under the command of I.Michelson before Suvorov arrived. Pugachov retreated to steppes over the river Volga with the remainder of his forces. Suvorov followed him.
In 1786 Alexander Suvorov was promoted to the rank of general (General-Anshef - the highest general rank in the Russian army). He was appointed the commander of the Vladimir Division, then the St.Petersburg and Kremenchug Divisions.
The second Catherinian Russian-Turkish war of 1787-1791 began when Suvorov commanded the Kremenchug Division. And the star of his military talent rose just in this war.
General Suvorov commanded the defence of the Kherson-Kinburn region from the Southern Bug river to the Perekop neck (that connects the Crimean Peninsula with the mainland). Turkish troops threatened from the sea and the fortress Ochakov located across the estuary.
One of the most famous Suvorov's victories became the storm of the very strong Turkish fortress Ismail. This stronghold of the Ottoman Porte on the river Danube banks build by French and German fortificators was considered unassailable. In Turkish it was called "Ordu Kalesi" because this fortress could accomodate a whole army. It had the shape of an irregular triangle adjacent to the river bank. The length of the earthen rampart was more than 6 kilometers and the height was 6 - 8 meters with t earthen and stone bastions. The width of the fortress moat was about 12 meters with the depth of 6 - 10 meters. In many places the moat was filled with water. There were many stone buildings inside the fortress adapted to defensive actions.
The capture of Ismail brought Suvorov the glory of a great Russian commander, but he did not get the Field-Marshal baton, he got only the rank of colonel of the Leib-Guards Preobrazhensky regiment (in Russia in was a very high rank, Empress Catherine II herself had the rank of colonel of this Guards regiment too). The reason of this was Suvorov's terms with Prince Potemkin-Tavrichesky were very complicated.
