Offenberg, Ivan Petrovich

Born in 1792, he was the youngest son of Baron Peter Georg von Offenberg from a marriage with Baroness Julia Korf. The elder brother - Fedor (1789-1856) was a member of the general auditorium. Having received a home education, Ivan Petrovich entered military service in 1807 and was enlisted as a cunker in the Pskov Dragoon Regiment .

In 1809 he was promoted to ensign , in 1811 he was transferred to the Siberian Lancers Regiment, in which, commanding a squadron, he took an active part in the Patriotic War of 1812 , and for the courage and discretion shown in the battles near Smolensk , he was awarded the Order of St. Anne of the 4th degree, under Borodin - the order of St. Vladimir of the 4th degree with a bow, for the case near Mozhaisk and Tarutin - was promoted to headquarters captains and, finally, for Vyazma - to captains . In the battle of Borodino, he was wounded twice, but remained in service; near Krasny attacked the French infantry with his squadron and took two guns;

During the campaign of Russian troops abroad, he participated in many matters. Near Leipzig, in the repeated attacks of the French cavalry, two horses were killed under him and he was wounded, but remained in the saddle until the end of the battle; Offenberg was awarded the Order of St. Anne of the 2nd degree for this battle, and the next year for the distinction near Hamburg he received a golden saber with the inscription "For courage . "

Upon the return of Russian troops from abroad, Offenberg was transferred to the Life Guards Regiment on March 1, 1815, and a year later he was appointed adjutant to Major General A.H. Benckendorff with the transfer to the Life Guards Hussar Regiment .

Mason , dedicated in 1816 in the St. Petersburg box "Flaming Star" ^[2] .

Produced as colonel on April 24, 1819, he was appointed commander of the Royal Highness Prince Friedrich of Wirthemberg of Yamburg Ulans , on January 29, 1823, whom he commanded until March 25, 1828, when he was promoted to major general and appointed to be under the command of the 1st Lancer Division.

Appointed on August 2, 1830, the commander of the 2nd Brigade of the same division, the next year he took part in the suppression of the Polish uprising . Commanding the vanguard of the corps of Count K. A. Kreitz , Offenberg defeated the Dembinsky detachment near Vilna , pursued Gelgud to Prussia and was awarded a gold saber with diamond jewelry and the inscription "For Courage" for his valiant participation in the assault on Warsaw . The Adjutant General Count K. F. Toll, Chief of the Main Staff of the army, gave the following description of Baron Offenberg: “There can be an excellent division commander; has the ability to command large masses of cavalry. He has very good military knowledge and general education. Brave, brave, decisive. Keeps order in the troops and discipline . ”

Appointed on March 20, 1832, the commander of the Life Guards of the Horse-Jaeger Regiment, he was soon appointed commander of the 1st Brigade of the 2nd Light Cavalry Division, leaving the regiment commander; On April 18, 1835, promoted to major general , he was approved as the head of the 3rd Dragoon Cavalry Division, which he commanded for more than fifteen years; in 1837 he was promoted to lieutenant general .

Taking part in the Hungarian campaign of 1849 , Offenberg, commanding the vanguard of the corps of Count F.V. Ridiger , especially distinguished himself in affairs on July 3 at the village of Duca and on July 5 near Weizen , for which he was awarded the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky . fought under Weizen and Debrecin .

Shortly after returning from the Hungarian campaign, Offenberg was appointed commander of the 2nd reserve cavalry corps, and on December 6, 1851 he was promoted to general from the cavalry and approved by the corps commander, and on December 31 he was appointed a member of the Military Council.

Appointed on November 8, 1856, the commander of the newly formed separate reserve cavalry corps, Baron Offenberg commanded this corps until its abolition. September 26, 1859 was awarded the Order of St. Vladimir , 1st degree with swords. August 24, 1860 was awarded the title of General, consisting of the Person of His Majesty ^[3] . On August 17, 1861 he was appointed chief of the Lithuanian Ulan Archduke of the Austrian Albert Regiment , and on November 13 - the second chief of the Mariupol Hussar Prince Friedrich of Hesse-Kassel Regiment .

The formation of a separate reserve cavalry corps was caused by the desire to establish uniform rules in combat, administrative, economic and disciplinary relations for all parts of the army cavalry.

Offenberg remained in this post for six years and proved to be an outstanding administrator, military teacher and an exemplary cavalry chief. He looked at the cavalry, on the one hand, as "a terrible hammer capable of pulling any kind of troops off the face of the earth, no matter what it is armed with, and on the other, as the eyes, ears and hands of the army, without which it is half dead." In his opinion, "good cavalry can operate under all conditions, if only the bosses knew how and wanted it." Demanding knowledge of military history from a cavalry officer, he said: “It arouses interest, hunting, thought and imagination ... Well, what a cavalryman can be, and especially a partisan, without thought, imagination, fantasy. Cavalry is a weapon of the spirit, and the spirit cannot be without traditions. ”

One of the first traditions, he considered pride the uniform of his unit. “The cavalry regiments,” he said, “need sharp differences in uniform for combat, for collecting après une mêlée, and beautiful uniforms so that every officer and soldier loves them, attach to them.”

Offenberg saw in the riding ring "not a goal, but a means, a school, without which the officer could neither learn to ride dashingly and fearlessly, nor understand the secrets of horse riding, nor learn, finally, how to teach a soldier how to ride." He looked at the dressage of a horse in the same way as at gymnastics in relation to a person. “Both serve to strengthen forces.”

Offenberg’s thoughts, directions and advice on this matter are set out in his order on the corps of May 20, 1862, No. 51, and are fully included in the Manual for Dressage of a Repair Horse, published in 1870.

Offenberg was the first to introduce annual prize officer races in the Russian army (later such practice was also extended to the lower ranks), enacted the forgotten law on the assignment of combat horses to cavalry officers, enlisted the release of feed money to all officers, and formed officer repair capital.

Extremely caring for staffing the cavalry with officers trained to serve in it, he introduced field trips for the first time, demanded them to be able to conduct military-eye surveys, understand and read the map well, established an officer cavalry school in Yelisavetgrad , and developed a detailed “Instruction for conducting classes in the cavalry "and" Manual for reserve squadrons ", which spelled out how to train a recruit and how to ride repair horses.

Regarding the lower ranks, he inspired his subordinates that “there is nothing in common between discipline and barbarism, between training and dentistry” and was ruthlessly strict towards those guilty of violating this rule. He also passionately and heartily cared for the material interests of the soldier, introducing strict accountability and mercilessly punishing their violators.

Upon the abolition in 1865 of the consolidated cavalry corps, Offenberg was appointed, on December 12, 1862, as inspector of the cavalry, leaving him a member of the Military Council.

Among other awards, Offenberg had the Order of St. George 4th degree, granted him December 21, 1832 for immaculate service (No. 4674 on the list of Grigorovich - Stepanov).

Baron Offenberg was married to Catherine Fyodorovna nee Repninskaya (1804-1852), they had children: Peter (outhouse, adjutant, major general), Fedor (colonel), Julia.

Baron Ivan Petrovich Offenberg died on February 18, 1870 in Mitava.

• Cavalry General Baron I.P. Offenberg II and our army cavalry under his command from 1856 to 1862. From the memoirs of a retired cavalryman. Kiev, 1891.
• Obituaries:
  • Russian disabled person, 1870, No. 58
  • The Illustrated Newspaper, 1870 No. 12.
• Offenberg, Ivan Petrovich, Baron // Military Encyclopedia : [18 vol.] / Ed. V.F. Novitsky [et al.]. - SPb. ; [ M. ]: Type. t-va I. D. Sytin , 1911-1915.
• Offenberg, Ivan Petrovich // Russian Biographical Dictionary : in 25 volumes. - SPb. - M. , 1896-1918.
• Fedorchenko V.I. Suite of Russian emperors. Book 2. M — I. M., 2005.