Benckendorf, Alexander Khristoforovich

Alexander Benkendorf was born on June 23 ( July 4 ), 1782 ^[2] (according to other sources, 1781 ) in the family of Prime Minister Christopher Ivanovich Benckendorf and Anna Juliana, nee Baroness Schilling von Kanshtadt (friends of Empress Maria Fedorovna, a native of Württemberg).

He was brought up in the prestigious guesthouse of Abbot Nicolas . In 1798 he was promoted to ensign of the Life Guards Semyonovsky Regiment with the appointment of an outhouse adjutant to Emperor Paul I.

In 1802, on the orders of Emperor Alexander I, he went on a secret expedition led by Sprengporten , which was supposed to "go round Asian and European Russia with the aim of a military-strategic inspection."

In the war of 1805-1806 consisted of the duty general Count Tolstoy and participated in many battles ^[3] . In 1807-1808 was at the Russian embassy in Paris .

In 1809 he went as a hunter (volunteer) to the army, acting against the Turks , and often was in the forefront or commanded separate detachments; for outstanding differences in the battle of Ruschuk on June 20, 1811 he was awarded the Order of St. George of the 4th degree. Mason , in August 1810 was considered a member of the 3rd degree (master) of the St. Petersburg box " United Friends ".

During the Patriotic War of 1812 , Benckendorff was at first the adjutant wing under Emperor Alexander I and communicated the main command with the army of Bagration, then he commanded the vanguard of the flying (army partisan) detachment of General Wincingerode ; July 27 made an attack in the case of Velizh , fought in battle near Zvenigorod , and after Napoleon left Moscow and was occupied by Russian troops, he was appointed commandant of the city. During the pursuit of the enemy, he was under the command of Lieutenant General Kutuzov (not to be confused with Field Marshal Kutuzov) , who replaced Vincingerode , who was captured by the French, was in different affairs and captured three generals and more than 6,000 lower ranks.

In the campaign of 1813 , Benckendorf commanded a flying detachment, defeated the French at Tempelberg (for which he received the Order of St. George of the 3rd art.), Forced the enemy to surrender the city of Fürstenwald and, together with a detachment of Chernyshev and Tettenborn, occupied Berlin . Crossing the Elbe , Benkendorf took the city of Worben and, under the command of General Dornberg, contributed to the defeat of the Moran division in Luneburg .

Then, consisting of his detachment in the Northern Army, he participated in the battles of Gross-Veren and Dennevice . Having come under the command of Count Vorontsov , for 3 days in a row with one of his detachments he covered the army’s movement to Dessau and Roslau and was awarded a gold saber decorated with diamonds for this. In the battle of Leipzig, Benckendorf commanded the left wing of the cavalry of General Wincingerode, and when this general moved to Kassel he was the head of his vanguard.

Then, with a separate detachment, he was sent to Holland and cleaned it of the enemy. Replaced there by the Prussian and English troops, Benckendorff marched to Belgium , took the cities of Louvain and Mechelen and recaptured 24 guns and 600 British prisoners from the French.

In the campaign of 1814, Benckendorf was particularly distinguished in the case under Luttih ; in the battle of Kraon, he commanded the entire cavalry c. Vorontsov , and then covered the movement of the Silesian army to Laon ; under Saint-Dizier, he first ruled the left wing, and then rearguard .

Since August 1814 - the commander of the brigade (Siberian and Orenburg regiments) of the 1st Ulan Cavalry Division.

Since the spring of 1816, he was the head of the 2nd Dragoon Cavalry Division.

In March 1819 he was appointed chief of staff of the Guards Corps.

On December 1, 1821, Lieutenant General Benckendorf was appointed commander of the 1st Guards Cavalry Division.

He distinguished himself during the flood of November 7-8, 1824.

On April 12, 1826, Benckendorff submitted a note to His Imperial Majesty containing a draft of the establishment of a higher police force under the command of a special minister and inspector of the gendarme corps ^[4] . Emperor Nicholas I , very close to Benckendorf after his active participation in the investigation of the Decembrists' case, appointed him June 25, 1826 as chief of the gendarmes , and on July 3, 1826, he was appointed chief of the III division of His Imperial Majesty’s own Chancellery and commander of His Imperial Majesty’s High Headquarters apartment .

The activities of Benckendorf in these posts are partially supported, for example, by such quotes:

• from the report of the III division for 1827: “ Officials. By this name one should understand everyone who exists through his service. This estate is perhaps the most corrupt moral. Among them, decent people are rare. Theft, forgery, misinterpretation of laws - this is their craft. Unfortunately, they rule, and not only separate, largest of them, but, in essence, all, since they all know all the subtleties of the bureaucratic system. They fear the introduction of justice, exact laws and the eradication of theft; they hate those who pursue bribery, and flee them like an owl of the sun. They systematically condemn all government activities and form a cadre of dissatisfied; but, not daring to discover the reasons for their discontent, they also impersonate patriots. ” ^[five]
• Benckendorff himself, to Delvigu : "Laws are written for subordinates, not for superiors, and you have no right to refer to them in my explanations or to justify them." ^[6]
• Herzen about Benckendorf: "... the head of this terrible police force, outlawed and above the law, which had the right to interfere in everything." ^[7]
• from the aforementioned note by Benckendorf to Nicholas I: "The opening of correspondence is one of the means of the secret police, and at the same time the best."
• allegedly during the establishment of the third branch, to the question of A. Kh. Benkendorf about the instructions, Nicholas I handed a handkerchief and said: “Here you have all the instructions. The more tears you erase with this handkerchief, the more truly you will serve my goals! ” ^[8]
• the tsar entrusted supervision of A.S. Pushkin to Benckendorff. According to N. Ya. Eidelman , “Benckendorf sincerely did not understand what this Pushkin needed, but clearly and clearly understood what he, the general, and the highest authority needed. Therefore, when Pushkin deviated from the right path to good, the general wrote him polite letters, after which he did not want to live and breathe. "

In 1828 , when the sovereign left for the army for military operations against the Ottoman Empire , Benckendorff accompanied him; was during the siege of Brailov , the crossing of the Russian army across the Danube , the subjugation of Isakchi , in the battle of Shuml and during the siege of Varna ; April 21, 1829 he was promoted to general from the cavalry.

By personal Highest decree, dated November 15, 1832 , the chief of the gendarmes , adjutant general , cavalry general Alexander Khristoforovich Benkendorf was elevated, with descending descendants, to the count of the Russian Empire dignity .

• In 1824, when there was a flood in St. Petersburg, he stood on the balcony with Tsar Emperor Alexander I. He threw off his cloak, swam to the boat and saved the whole day with the military governor of St. Petersburg M. A. Miloradovich .
• Benckendorf participated in a number of financial enterprises. So, for example, A. Kh. Benkendorf was listed among the founders of the society “for the establishment of double steamboats” (1836); its share was to be 1/6 of the initial issue of shares, or 100,000 rubles in silver at face value ^[9] . According to some reports, he lobbied for the interests of one of the largest insurance companies in Russia in the middle of the 19th century - “The Second Russian Fire Society” ^[10] .

• Benckendorf owned the Fall estate (now Keila-Joa , in Estonia ), built by his order by the young architect Andrei Ivanovich Stackenschneider in 1831.
• Benckendorf was the author of very informative memoirs about his life and public service (Benkendorf A. Kh. Memoirs 1802-1837. M. 2012; fragments of memoirs about participation in the Napoleonic wars reprinted earlier: Notes of Benckendorf. - M .: Languages ​​of Slavic culture, 2001; both editions are available on the Internet).
• Along with other official representatives of the authorities, he was a member of the special Committee established for the construction of the St. Petersburg-Moscow (since 1855 - Nikolaev) railway . The road was built in 1842 - 1851 between St. Petersburg and Moscow .
• In 1840, Benckendorf was appointed a member of the committees on yard people and on the transformation of Jewish life; in the latter, he was sympathetic to the Jews.
• He died on the Hercules steamboat, returning from Carlsbad to Russia via Amsterdam, accompanied by his nephew K.K. Benckendorff.

He was married since 1817 to the sister of the St. Petersburg commandant G. A. Zakharzhevsky, Elizaveta Andreyevna Bibikova (09/11/1788 - 12/07/1857), the widow of Lieutenant Colonel Pavel Gavrilovich Bibikov (1784-1812), who died in the battle of Vilna. Widowed, she lived with her two daughters in the Kharkov province with her aunt Dunina , where she met Benckendorff. Later, the state lady and the cavalier lady of the Order of St. Catherine . They had three daughters in marriage:

• Anna Alexandrovna (1818-1900), had a beautiful voice and was the first public performer of the Russian anthem “ God Save the Tsar! ". This happened in the hall of the Noble Assembly at a concert of the Patriotic Society. In May 1840, she married the Austrian Ambassador Count Rudolf Apponi (1817-1876). According to A.O. Smirnova, their marriage was a mystery, to such an extent the spouses were essentially different ^[11] . After marriage, she lived in Paris, London and Rome. Having lost her husband, she chose the Landel estate in Hungary as the main place of her stay. Her daughter Elena was married to Prince Paolo Borghese , the owner of the famous villa .
• Maria (Margarita) Aleksandrovna (1820-1880), maid of honor, from 1838 was the first wife of Prince Grigory Petrovich Volkonsky (1808-1882).
• Sofya Aleksandrovna (1825–1879), in the first marriage to Pavel Grigorievich Demidov (1809–1858), in the second since 1859, to Prince S.V. Kochubey (1820–1880).

In the family of A.H. Benkendorf, his two stepdaughters Bibikova were raised:

• Ekaterina Pavlovna (1810-1900), cavalier lady of the Order of St. Catherine, was married to Baron F.P. Offenberg .
• Elena Pavlovna (1812–1888), one of the first secular beauties, maid of honor, lady of state and chief hofmeisterin. Since 1831, married to Prince E. A. Beloselsky-Belozersky . Widowed, in 1847 she married a second time to the archaeologist and numismatist of Prince V.V. Kochubey (1811-1850).

•  

  Benckendorf with his wife
  Elizaveta Andreevna

•  

  Anna Aleksandrovna,
  daughter

•  

  Maria Alexandrovna,
  daughter

•  

  Sofya Alexandrovna,
  daughter

•  

  Elena Pavlovna,
  stepdaughter

• 1798 - entered service as a non-commissioned officer in L.-G. Semenovsky regiment.
• December 31, 1798 - granted by Ensign, at the age of 15, with the appointment of an aide-adjutant to His Imperial Majesty.
• October 7, 1799 - second lieutenant.
• November 22, 1800 - a lieutenant.
• March 29, 1806 - staff captain.
• February 13, 1807 - for the difference in the battle of the captain.
• March 2, 1807 - Colonel, in the same regiment and rank.
• July 27, 1812 - for the distinction of Major General.
• August 29, 1814 - was appointed commander of the 2nd Brigade of the 1st Uhlan Division.
• April 9, 1816 - Head of the 1st Lancers Division.
• March 18, 1819 - Chief of Staff of the Guards Corps .
• September 20, 1821 - lieutenant general in the same position.
• December 1, 1821 - the head of the 1st cuirassier division .
• November 10, 1824 - interim military governor of Vasilyevsky Island.
• June 25, 1826 - the chief of the gendarmes.
• July 3, 1826 - the commander of the Imperial main apartment and the chief chief of the III Branch of His Imperial Majesty’s Chancellery .
• December 6, 1826 - appointed senator, with resignation.
• April 21, 1829 - General of the cavalry.
• February 8, 1831 - a member of the State Council and the Committee of Ministers, with resignation and title.
• January 7, 1837 - a member of the Siberian Committee .
• 1839 - an honorary member and trustee of the Demidov House of Charity of Workers.
• 1841 - Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Prisons Society.
• February 6, 1842 - Chairman of the Construction Commission on the construction of the St. Petersburg-Moscow Railway.
• August 30, 1842 - Member of the Committee of the Transcaucasian Territory .
• September 17, 1844 - by the highest order expelled from the lists of the dead.

In the hikes was:

• 1804 - Georgia, under the command of General Tsitsianov , while taking the forstadt of the Ganja fortress , for which he was awarded, on January 1, the Order of St. Anne, 4 tbsp .;
• 1807 - January 26 and 27, participated in the Battle of Preisis Eilau , for which he was awarded the Order of St. Anne, 2 tbsp. and the rank of captain;
• 1811 - July 22, near the fortress of Ruschuk , when the enemy attacked the rear, commanding the Chuguevsky Ulansky regiment , overthrew strong Turkish crowds and exterminated a significant number of the best riders, for which he was awarded the Order of St. George 4 st .;
• 1812 - in attacks at the city ​​of Velizh , July 27, he commanded the vanguard, under the command of General Wintzingerode , for which he was promoted to major general, after which he was sent, with 80 Cossacks, to open a large army with the corps of Count Wittgenstein and took captivity up to 500 people; in Ruza , with two Cossack regiments, he overturned the enemy advanced posts; from Ruza to Moscow, moving away from the 4th enemy corps, he commanded a rearguard in the detachment of General Wincingerode; from Zvenigorod he went to Volokolamsk to attack the enemy, and captured more than 8,000 prisoners, and after the occupation of Moscow, he was appointed commandant in it; here they took more than 3,000 prisoners and up to 30 guns. When pursuing the enemy with different units to the river. The Neman, under the command of Kutuzov, captured 3 generals and more than 6,000 people of various ranks; then he was in different affairs near Tilsit , against Marshal MacDonald ;
• 1813 - commanding a special detachment between Berlin and Frankfurt an der Oder, he defeated an enemy horse-ranger regiment at Tempelberg, capturing 48 officers and 750 privates, for which he was awarded the Order of St. George 3 tbsp .; then he compelled three battalions of the French guard to surrender to Forstenwald for surrender and occupied, together with the detachments of generals Chernyshov and Totenborn, Berlin; near Dresden he fought with the corps of Marshal Davout, then retreated to the city of Gabelsberg and, crossing the river. Elbu, took an enemy post of 150 people. После того, через 2 дня, имел дело с отрядом, высланным из Магдебурга; потом, под начальством генерала Дернберга, вместе с генералом Чернышовым, способствовал занятию г. Люнебурга, где взял в плен 12 орудий, 2 знамени, командующего генерала и 3500 человек, за что награждён орденом Св. Анны 1 ст.; после сражения при Гросс-Берене, 11 августа, преследуя неприятеля до г. Ютербока, взял в плен более 2000 человек и, по вытеснении неприятеля из г. Ютербока, взял в плен ещё до 300 человек; в Морцане, под командой графа Воронцова, содержал аванпосты и имел разные стычки; за эти дела награждён золотой шпагой, с надписью «за храбрость» и алмазами; затем преследовал неприятельский арьергард, при следовании его к Денневицу. В Ахене строил мост через р. Эльбу и занял город Кетен, где взято в плен 250 кавалеристов; под Лейпцигом, во время сражения, командовал левым крылом кавалерии корпуса генерала Винцингероде, за что получил высочайшее благоволение, а по дороге от г. Касселя — авангардом того же корпуса; при следовании от этого города получил в команду отдельный отряд, состоявший из авангарда, с присоединением к нему Тульского пехотного, 2-го Егерского и 5 казачьих полков; к этому отряду присоединились три казачьих полка полковника Нарышкина и 5 из отряда генерала Чернышова, под командой полковника Балабина; из г. Утрехта, вытеснил неприятеля и занял г. Амстердам, затем занял г. Роттердам, кр. Гертрюденберг принудил сдаться на капитуляцию, кр. Бреду занял и захватил пленными 600 человек; крепость и гавань Вильгельмштадт ему сдались, при чём тут найдено 100 орудий и 52 канонерские шлюпки. Ворвавшись в города Лювен и Малин, передовые его войска отбили у неприятеля 24 орудия и более 600 английских пленных. Потом вся Голландия занята была прусскими и английскими войсками, и его отряд соединился в Дюссельдорфе с корпусом генерала Винцингероде; за всё это награждён орденом Св. Владимира 2 ст., шведским орденом Меча, большого креста, и прусским орденом «За заслуги»;
• 1814 год — по переправе через р. Рейн, был послан с отрядом в г. Эпернэ, откуда вытеснил неприятеля, взял в плен до 400 человек; в первый день сражения под г. Лаоном был отряжен с кавалерией для подкрепления левого фланга прусской армии; находился при занятии корпусом генерала Винцингероде г. Реймса; в сражении под г. Сен-Дизье командовал сначала левым флангом, а потом арьергардом, за что награждён алмазными знаками к ордену Св. Анны 1 ст.; в том 1814 году, награждён прусским орденом Красного Орла 1 ст., нидерландской золотой шпагой, с надписью «Амстердам и Бреда», и от великобританского регента золотой саблей, с надписью «За подвиги в 1813 году»;
• 1824 год — за усердие во время наводнения 7 ноября в С.-Петербурге награждён табакеркой с портретом императора Александра I;
• 1825 год — 14 декабря, при возмущении в С.-Петербурге, и по 16 число того же месяца командовал войсками, расположенными на Васильевском острове; 25 декабря, за исправление должности временного военного губернатора Васильевского острова, награждён орденом Св. Александра Невского;
• 1826 год — получил табакерку с портретом императора Николая I;
• 1827 год — 2 октября, награждён бриллиантовыми знаками к ордену Св. Александра Невского;
• 1828 год — участвовал в Турецкой войне, при чём, 21 июля, сопровождал Его Величество в Шумлы к Варне, оттуда Чёрным морем до г. Одессы; с 27 того же месяца, был при осаде кр. Варны, до взятия её; за кампанию 1828 года награждён орденом Св. Владимира 1 ст.;
• 1832 год — 10 ноября, за отличные заслуги государю и отечеству, возведён в графское Российской империи достоинство;
• 1841 год — награждён алмазными знаками к ордену Св. Андрея Первозванного.

• В службу вступил унтер-офицером в л.-гв. Семёновский полк (1798)
• Прапорщик (31.12.1798)
• Флигель-адъютант к Его Императорскому Величеству (31.12.1798)
• Подпоручик (07.10.1799)
• Поручик (22.11.1800)
• Штабс-капитан (29.03.1806)
• Капитан (13.02.1807), за отличие в сражении
• Полковник (02.03.1807)
• Генерал-майор (27.07.1812), за отличие
• Генерал-адъютант к Его Императорскому Величеству (22.07.1819)
• Генерал-лейтенант (20.09.1821)
• Генерал от кавалерии (21.04.1829)

Russian:

• Орден Святого Иоанна Иерусалимского (1800)
• Орден Святой Анны 3 ст. (27.02.1804)
• Орден Святого Владимира 4 ст. (09.12.1804)
• Орден Святой Анны 2 ст. (13.02.1807)
• Орден Святого Георгия 4 ст. (26.05.1812)
• Орден Святого Георгия 3 ст. (17.02.1813)
• Орден Святой Анны 1 ст. (29.10.1813)
• Золотая шпага с алмазами и надписью «за храбрость» (1813)
• Орден Святого Владимира 2 ст. (20.01.1814)
• Алмазные знаки к Ордену Святой Анны 1 ст. (1814)
• Табакерка с портретом императора Александра I (1824)
• Орден Святого Александра Невского (25.12.1825)
• Табакерка с портретом императора Николая I (1826)
• Алмазные знаки к Ордену Святого Александра Невского (1827)
• Знак отличия «За XXV лет беспорочной службы» (22.08.1828)
• Орден Святого Владимира 1 ст. (30.09.1828)
• Орден Белого Орла ( Царство Польское , 1830)
• Знак отличия «За XXX лет беспорочной службы» (22.08.1832)
• Орден Святого апостола Андрея Первозванного (22.04.1834)
• Знак отличия «За XXXV лет беспорочной службы» (22.08.1836)
• Знак отличия «За XL лет беспорочной службы» (22.08.1840)
• Алмазные знаки к Ордену Святого апостола Андрея Первозванного (16.04.1841)

Foreign:

• Прусский Орден « Pour le Mérite » (13.02.1807)
• Прусский Орден Красного орла 1 кл. (1813)
• Шведский Орден Меча , большой крест (1813)
• Шведский Орден Полярной звезды , большой крест (1813)
• Золотая шпага от короля Нидерландов с надписью: «За Амстердам и Бреду» (1814)
• Золотая сабля от регента Великобритании с надписью «За подвиги в 1813 году» (1814)
• Алмазные знаки к Ордену Красного орла 1 кл. (1829)
• Прусский Орден Чёрного орла (1833)
• Австрийский Королевский венгерский орден Святого Стефана , большой крест (1833)
• Табакерка с портретом короля Пруссии Фридриха Вильгельма III (1835)
• Баварский Орден Святого Губерта (1838)
• Саксен-веймарский Орден Белого сокола 1 ст. (1838)
• Ганноверский Королевский Гвельфский орден 1 ст. (1840)

1838—1844 годы — набережная реки Фонтанки , 16 (служебный); дом барона Ф. Ф. Аша на Малой Морской , 18 (домашний).

• Иван Худолеев — « Поэт и царь » (1927)
• Николай Комиссаров — « Лермонтов » (1943)
• Александр Шатов — « Глинка » (1946)
• Николай Рыбников — « Разбудите Мухина! » (1967)
• Евгений Велихов — « Былое и думы » (1973)
• Валерий Еремичев — « И с вами снова я » (1981)
• Улдис Лиелдиджс — « Лермонтов » (1986)
• Алексей Жарков — « Чокнутые » ( 1991 )
• Владимир Качан — « Бедная Настя » ( 2003 )
• Владимир Симонов — Дело о «Мёртвых душах» (2005)
• Виктор Сухоруков — Сатисфакция (2005)
• Владимир Богданов — « Пушкин. Последняя дуэль » (2006)
• Андрей Астраханцев — « Смерть Вазир-Мухтара » (2009)
• Евгений Лазарев — «Дуэль Пушкинъ — Лермонтовъ» (2014)
• Сергей Барковский — « Полторы комнаты, или Сентиментальное путешествие на родину » (2008); « Монах и бес » (2016)
• Александр Лазарев — « Союз спасения » (2019)

• Бенкендорф, Александр Христофорович // Энциклопедический словарь Брокгауза и Ефрона : в 86 т. (82 т. и 4 доп.). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
• Кн. С. М. Волконский . Мои воспоминания. Лавры. Странствия. Родина. — Берлин, «Медный всадник»,1923; М., «Искусство», 1992, в 2 томах.
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