Wrangel, Alexander Evstafievich

From the Wrangel family, he is the son of the captain of the Baron Voldemar Gustav ( 1770 - 1827 ) and his second wife, Jacobin Caroline Sofia, Baroness Ikskul von Guildenband ( 1781 - 1832 ).

In 1818 he entered the service of a lieutenant in the Life Guards Semyonovsky Regiment , from which in 1820 he was transferred to the 1st Marine Regiment , and in 1821 he was promoted to ensign . In 1827 (or 1828) he was appointed adjutant to the commander of the Lithuanian Corps, Baron G.V. Rosen , with the transfer to the Life Guards of the Lithuanian Regiment . took part in the Polish war of 1830-1831 .

Then all his military activities were connected with the Caucasus . With the appointment of Baron Rosen in 1831 as commander of the Separate Caucasian Corps (OKK), Wrangel went with him to the Caucasus, where he participated in expeditions to Chechnya and Dagestan against Kazi-Mulla . As especially distinguished during the storming of the village of Gimry , the head-captain Wrangel was sent with a report to Emperor Nicholas I and on July 27, 1833 was awarded him a golden sword ^[2] . In 1837 he was promoted to colonel and appointed commander of the Shirvan infantry regiment , with whom he joined the Samur detachment in 1839 and showed brilliant courage during the operations of the detachment in southern Dagestan . He was sent to northern Dagestan to help the Chechen detachment of General P.H. Grabbe , besieging Akhulgo . Having overcome great difficulties on the way, Wrangel joined Grabbe and participated in the assault on Akhulgo , during which he was wounded by a bullet in the head of one of the assault columns.

In 1840, Wrangel was appointed commander of the 1st brigade of the 19th Infantry Division , with which he joined the detachment of General Galafeev , and throughout the whole of 1840 participated in continuous searches and cases against the highlanders (including in the battle of Valerik ) . Then, until 1853, his activity was mainly administrative - he had to manage various areas of the Caucasus:

• in 1842 he was appointed to serve for special assignments under the command of the OKK,
• in 1844 - the head of the Caspian region ,
• in 1846 - the Shemakha military governor ,
• in 1850 - again appointed to be part of the OKK troops,
• in 1852 - the chief of the Lezghin line and the Jaro-Belokan region .

December 3, 1842 he was awarded the Order of St. George of the 4th degree, in 1845 ^[3] promoted to major general .

Actions against Shamil

During the Crimean War, Wrangel commanded the 20th Infantry Division and ruled over the left flank of the Caucasian line . A series of vigorous expeditions and prudent measures, Wrangel weakened Shamil and prevented his relations with the Turkish government , to which the imam promised his help.

In December 1854, Wrangel was promoted to lieutenant general and appointed head of the 2nd Guards Infantry Division ; in August 1857 he was granted the rank of adjutant general and was appointed Kutaisi military governor , but did not take office; Since 1858, he was the head of the 21st Infantry Division , commander of troops and the head of the civil unit in the Caspian region . In 1859 , commanding a Dagestan detachment, he participated in the offensive of Prince A.I. Baryatinsky in the Andis valley of Koisu - against Shamil. July 17-18, made a wonderful crossing through the Andean Koisu at the village of Sogratl . Vigorously and tirelessly pursuing Shamil, a detachment under the command of Wrangel forced him out of Avaristan and forced him to take refuge in Gunib . The whole operation, which ended with the assault of the aul and the capture of Shamil, belonged entirely to Wrangel and his glorious detachment, for which on August 10, 1859, Lieutenant General A.E. Wrangel was awarded the Order of St. George of the 3rd degree.

In 1860, Wrangel was appointed commander of the 5th Army Corps, and in 1862 - a member of the Military Council and inspector of troops. In 1866 he was promoted to general from infantry .

He was buried at the Smolensk Evangelical Cemetery in St. Petersburg ^[4] .

Russian Empire:

• Order of St. Vladimir 4th degree with a bow (1831);
• Polish insignia "For military dignity" 4th degree (1831);
• Golden sword with the inscription "For courage" (1832);
• Order of St. George 4th degree for 25 years of service in officer ranks (1842);
• Order of St. Stanislav 1st degree (1848);
• Order of St. Anne 1st degree (1850), imperial crown to the order (1852);
• Order of the White Eagle (1856);
• Order of St. George 3rd degree (1859);
• Order of St. Alexander Nevsky with swords (1859), diamond signs to the order (1861);
• Order of St. Vladimir 1st degree (1871);
• Badge of the Immaculate Service for L years (1878)

Foreign countries:

• Persian Order of Leo and the Sun , 2nd art. with diamonds (1835);
• Prussian Order of the Crown of the 1st degree with enameled ribbon of the Order of the Red Eagle (1835);
• Prussian Order of the Red Eagle Big Cross (1871)
• Swedish-Norwegian Order of St. Olav the Great Cross (1872)

• Bar. Wrangel 2. Alexander Evstafievich // List of generals by seniority. Fixed on August 1st. - SPb. : Military Printing House, 1872. - S. 111-112.
• Wrangel, Alexander Evstafyevich // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
• Wrangels // Military Encyclopedia : [in 18 vol.] / Ed. V.F. Novitsky [et al.]. - SPb. ; [ M. ]: Type. t-va I. D. Sytin , 1911-1915.