Poltinin, Mikhail Petrovich

Mikhail Poltinin came from the nobility of the Tver province . The son of the ensign. In 1813 he entered the Noble Regiment at the 2nd Cadet Corps ^[1] .

On August 8 (20), 1814, Poltinin was promoted to the first officer rank as a warrant officer and assigned to the Nasheburg (Noteburg) infantry regiment , as part of which he participated in the overseas campaign of the Russian army ( War of the Sixth Coalition ). In 1816 he was promoted to second lieutenant. Until 1818, he was in France as part of the Russian occupation corps of the adjutant general Count M. S. Vorontsov in the 1st brigade of the 9th infantry division ^[1] .

Upon returning in 1818 from France, Poltinin, as part of his unit, was sent to the Caucasus. In 1820 he received the rank of lieutenant, in the next 1821 - staff captain, and in 1824 - captain. On November 6 (18), 1826, for Alazani, he participated in the defeat of the Jarians , who raided Georgian lands. During the Russo-Persian war (1826-1828) he participated in the occupation of October 14 (26), 1827 without a fight by the detachment of Lieutenant General G. I. Eristov Tavriz ^[1] .

During the Russo-Turkish War (1828–1829), Poltinin participated in the capture of Bayazet on August 28 ( September 9 ), 1828, and Diadin on September 8 (20) . From June 20 ( July 2 ) to June 21 ( July 3 ), 1829 he took part in the "bloody" defense of Bayazet . Particularly distinguished on the second day of defense of the city. Holding his position with two companies (according to A. L. Gisetti - from one) of the Nasheburg regiment from the onslaught of a large enemy, he immediately launched a counterattack and “without a shot, with cold weapons” knocked out the Turks from the trench of one of the heights repelled by them at Russians on the first day of the assault ^[2] . During the defense of Bayazet, he received a concussion in the head from a stone breaking off from a blow by an enemy cannonball . For military distinctions in Bayazet’s two-day defense, Poltinin was promoted to majors in the same year and awarded the Order of St. George 4th degree ^{[3] [4]} . In the same year he participated in the capture of Mush ^[1] .

At the end of the Turkish war, Poltinin with his part was transferred to the Black Sea cordon line . There he carried out cordon service and took part in expeditions against the Zakuban Circassians . In 1830 he participated in a campaign against the Abadzekhs and Shapsugs . In 1831 he was awarded the rank of lieutenant colonel. Upon the disbandment of the Nasheburg regiment in 1834, Poltinin was appointed commander of the Black Sea line battalion No. 3. In the same year, he participated in an airborne expedition at the mouths of Dzhubga and Pshada , during which he received a bullet wound in his left thigh on a flight. In 1836, Poltinin was promoted to colonel and in the same year participated in a punitive expedition against the Natukhais to exterminate their auls, where he received a bullet wound in the lower back ^[1] .

In 1837, Poltinin was appointed commander of the Navaginsk Infantry Regiment and in the winter (1837–1838) again participated in the campaign against the Natukhais, for which he was awarded a semi-saber with the inscription “For Courage” for combat distinctions. In 1839 he participated in a landing for occupying the mouth of the Subash River ^[1] .

On May 13 (25), 1841, Poltinin was promoted to major general and sent to the North-East Caucasus to fight the North Caucasian imamat Shamil . On May 15 (27) of the same year, he participated in the assault on the Khubar heights (at the village of Khubar ) in the mountain Dagestan. In May - June 1842 he participated in the Ichkerin expedition . In 1844 he was appointed commander of the 1st Brigade of the 20th Infantry Division and in the same year took part in the construction of the Vozdvizhenskaya fortress (5 versts from Atagi , Chechnya). On October 1 (13), during a raid to exterminate the Gelen-Goitinsky villages, from where Chechens raided the Russian detachment in Vozdvizhenskaya, Poltinin was wounded by a bullet in his chest ^[5] (or his left side ^[1] ). The following 1846 he was appointed commander of the 1st Brigade of the 19th Infantry Division and in the same year participated in an expedition against the Chechens ^[1] .

In 1849, Poltinin was appointed for special assignments under the commander-in-chief of the Separate Caucasian Corps (since 1857 - the Caucasian Army) with enlistment in the army infantry ^[6] . December 6 (18), 1851 promoted to lieutenant general ^[1] .

Poltinin died in retirement ^[7] (he left her no earlier than 1862 ^[8] ).

Mikhail Poltinin was of good physique and health. So, according to the memoirs of the general from infantry M. Ya. Olshevsky , Poltinin, received in one of the expeditions against the Zakuban Circassians (October 1, 1844) a serious wound ( "a bullet pierced his chest" ), - "he not only survived by the strength of his body and this severe wound, but two weeks later he was on his feet and still from the early morning he began to bite ” ^[5] .

According to contemporaries, Poltinin enjoyed a great military reputation in the Caucasian troops ^[9] . However, "despite his desperate courage," some of his contemporaries (M. Ya. Olshevsky, A. M. Dondukov-Korsakov ) point out the lack of his disposition. The Navaginsky regiment, which Poltinin commanded for a long time, “was not known” for military distinctions in the Caucasus ^[10] . The only reason for this, according to the opinion of M. Ya. Olshevsky, was the frequent failure in comparison with other regiments ^[11] . When Poltinin was transferred to the 20th Infantry Division as a brigadier commander, he continued to support the Navaginsky regiment ^[9] .

According to Poltinin’s colleagues, who were directly acquainted with him, he was a cheerful, sociable, good-natured and at the same time direct person ^[12] . As the cavalry general A. M. Dondukov-Korsakov wrote, “everyone loved him and it was impossible not to laugh at his playful and sometimes very original antics” ^[10] . The Decembrist A.P. Belyaev wrote about him: “It was a funny, very original good-natured man and a little crank; he was very fond of sayings and especially in rhymes, which he composed indiscriminately ” ^[13] .

On his silver “Asian” checker there was a carved inscription written by him ^[10] :

He loved the same and periodically sentenced.

In general, Poltinin was known in the Caucasus for his “remarkable courage” ^[10] and the persistent transfer of his many wounds ^[11] , as well as for his hospitality. He often liked to invite guests, treat them and arrange dances. According to A. P. Belyaev, “he always had a lot of fun” ^[13] . At the same time, he was “devoted to drink” , which, however, as A. M. Dondukov-Korsakov noted, “did not prevent him from maintaining proper composure in battles” ^[10] . Also M. Ya. Olshevsky wrote about Poltinin: “He is always dressed with a dandy; wears linen clean and thin, if not riding a brisk, then a beautiful horse with a type-setting bridle ” ^[9] .