View source for Mikhail Miloradovich

{{Short description|Russian general (1771–1825)}}
{{family name hatnote|Andreyevich|[[Miloradović noble family|Miloradovich]]|lang=Eastern Slavic}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix    = Count
| name                = Mikhail Andreyevich Miloradovich
| native_name         = {{Nobold|Михаил Андреевич Милорадович}}
| native_name_lang    = ru
| image               = Михаил Андреевич Милорадович.jpg
| caption             = Portrait by [[George Dawe]], {{circa|1820s}}
| office              = [[Saint Petersburg Governorate|Governor General of Saint Petersburg]]
| term_start          = 31 August 1818
| term_end            = 15 December 1825
| predecessor         = [[Sergey Vyazmitinov]]
| successor           = Pavel Golenishchev-Kutuzov
| birth_date          = {{OldStyleDate|12 October|1771|1 October}}
| death_date          = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1825|12|27|1771|10|12}}
| birth_place         = [[Saint Petersburg]], [[Russian Empire]]
| death_place         = Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire
| resting_place       = [[Annunciation Church of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra|Annunciation Church]] of the [[Alexander Nevsky Lavra]], St. Petersburg
| nickname            = The Russian Bayard<br/>The Russian Murat
| allegiance          = {{flag|Russian Empire}}
| branch              = {{army|Russian Empire}}
| serviceyears        = 1787&ndash;1825
| rank                = [[General of the Infantry (Imperial Russia)|General of the Infantry]]
| servicenumber       = 
| unit                = [[Izmailovsky Life Guards Regiment]]
| commands            = [[:ru:Апшеронский 81-й пехотный полк|81st Apsheron Infantry Regiment]],<br />[[Imperial Guard (Russia)|Imperial Guard]]
| battles             = {{Hidden
|List:
|{{Tree list}}
* [[Russo-Swedish War (1788–1790)]]
* [[Italian and Swiss expedition]]
** [[Battle of Cassano (1799)|Combat of Lecco]]
** [[Battle of the Trebbia (1799)|Battle of the Trebbia]]
** [[Battle of Novi]]
** [[Battle of Gotthard Pass|Battle of the Gotthard Pass]]
** [[Battle of Muottental]]
* [[War of the Third Coalition]]
** [[Battle of Amstetten]]
** [[Battle of Dürenstein]]
** [[Battle of Austerlitz]]
* [[Russo-Turkish War (1806–1812)]]
** [[:ru:Сражение при Турбате|Battle of Turbat]]
** [[Battle of Obilești]]
* [[French invasion of Russia|Patriotic War of 1812]]
** [[Battle of Borodino]]
** [[Battle of Tarutino]]
** [[Battle of Maloyaroslavets]]
** [[Battle of Vyazma]]
** [[Battle of Krasnoi]]
* [[War of the Sixth Coalition]]
** [[Battle of Lützen (1813)|Battle of Lützen]]
** [[Battle of Bautzen (1813)|Battle of Bautzen]]
** [[Battle of Kulm]]
** [[Battle of Leipzig]]
** [[Battle of Arcis-sur-Aube]]
** [[Battle of Brienne]]
** [[Battle of Fère-Champenoise]]
* [[Decembrist Revolt]]{{KIA}}
{{Tree list/end}}
|-
|headerstyle=background:#dbdbdb
|style=text-align:center;
}}
| battles_label       = 
| mawards             = {{Hidden
|List:
|[[Order of St. George]] 2nd class,<br>[[Order of St. Andrew]],<br>[[Order of St. Vladimir]] 1st class,<br>[[Order of St. Anna]] 1st class,<br>[[Russian tradition of the Knights Hospitaller|Order of St. John of Jerusalem]],<br>[[Order of St. Alexander Nevsky]],<br>[[Order of the Red Eagle]],<br>[[Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus]],<br>[[Iron Cross]],<br>[[Golden Weapon "For Bravery"]] (for the taking of Bucharest, 1806)
|-
|headerstyle=background:#dbdbdb
|style=text-align:center;
}}
| relations           = 
| laterwork           = 
| alma_mater          = [[University of Göttingen]]<br />[[University of Königsberg]]
}}
'''Count Mikhail Andreyevich Miloradovich''' ({{langx|ru|Граф Михаил Андреевич Милорадович}}, {{langx|sr|Гроф Михаил Андрејевић Милорадовић}}, {{lang|sr-Latn|Grof Mihail Andrejević Miloradović}}; {{OldStyleDate|October 12|1771|October 1}} &ndash; {{OldStyleDate|December 27|1825|December 15}}<ref name=DEATH/>), spelled '''Miloradovitch''' in contemporary English sources, was a Russian general prominent during the [[Napoleonic Wars]]. On his father's side, Miloradovich descended from the [[Serb]] noble family and the [[Katun (commune)|katun]] clan of [[Miloradović noble family|Miloradović]] from Hum, later part of [[Sanjak of Herzegovina]], in present-day [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]]. He entered military service on the eve of the [[Russo-Swedish War (1788–1790)|Russo-Swedish War of 1788–1790]] and his career advanced rapidly during the reign (1796–1801) of Emperor [[Paul I of Russia|Paul I]]. He served under [[Alexander Suvorov]] during [[French Revolutionary Wars: Campaigns of 1799|Italian and Swiss campaigns of 1799]]. Miloradovich was, along with [[Mikhail Kutuzov]] and [[Pyotr Bagration]], a brilliant pupil of Suvorov, and became one of the outstanding figures in the [[military history of Russia]].<ref>See [[Alexander Suvorov#Legacy]]</ref>

Miloradovich served in wars against France and the [[Ottoman Empire]], earning distinction in the [[Battle of Amstetten]] (1805), the [[Russo-Turkish War, 1806-1812|capture of Bucharest]] (1806), the [[Battle of Borodino]] (September 1812), the [[Battle of Tarutino]] (October 1812), the [[Battle of Vyazma]], and the [[Battle of Krasnoi]] (November 1812). He led the reserves into the [[Battle of Kulm]] (August 1813), the [[Battle of Leipzig]] (October 1813) and the [[Battle of Paris (1814)]]. Miloradovich attained the rank of [[History of Russian military ranks#1722–1917: Army|General of the Infantry]] in 1809 and the title of [[count]] in 1813. His reputation as a daring battlefield commander (contemporaries called him "the Russian [[Joachim Murat|Murat]]" and "the Russian [[Pierre Terrail, seigneur de Bayard|Bayard]]"<ref name=ZLER/>) rivalled that of his bitter personal enemy Bagration, but Miloradovich also had a reputation for good luck. He boasted that he had fought fifty battles but had never been wounded nor even scratched by the enemy.<ref name=K204T/>

By 1818, when Miloradovich was appointed [[Saint Petersburg Governorate|Governor General of Saint Petersburg]], the retirement or death of other senior generals made him the most highly-decorated active officer of the Russian army, holding the [[Order of St. George]] 2nd class, the [[Order of St. Andrew]], the [[Order of St. Vladimir]] 1st class, the [[Order of St. Anna]] 1st class, the [[Russian tradition of the Knights Hospitaller|Order of St. John of Jerusalem]] and the [[Order of St. Alexander Nevsky]] with diamonds.<ref name=A18/> A chivalrous man of boastful and flamboyant character, Miloradovich was a poor fit for the governorship. [[Vladimir Nabokov]] called him "a gallant soldier, ''[[wikt:bon vivant|bon vivant]]'' and a somewhat bizarre administrator";<ref name=N427/> [[Alexander Herzen]] wrote that he was "one of those military men who occupied the most senior positions in civilian life with not the slightest idea about public affairs".<ref name=KE109/>

When news of the death of [[Alexander I of Russia|Alexander I]] reached Saint Petersburg, Miloradovich prevented the heir, the future Emperor [[Nicholas I of Russia|Nicholas I]], from acceding to the throne. From {{OldStyleDateNY|December 9|November 27}} to {{OldStyleDate|December 25|1825|December 13}}, Miloradovich exercised ''de facto'' dictatorial authority, but he ultimately recognised Nicholas as his sovereign after the [[House of Romanov|Romanovs]] had sorted out their confusion over the succession. Miloradovich had sufficient evidence of the mounting [[Decembrist revolt]], but did not take any action until the rebels took over the [[Saint Petersburg Senate Square|Senate Square]] on {{OldStyleDate|December 26|1825|December 14}}. He rode into the rows of rebel troops and tried to talk them into obedience, but was fatally shot by [[Pyotr Kakhovsky]] and stabbed by [[Yevgeny Obolensky]].

==Early years==

[[File:Miloradovich 3-109.jpg|thumb|right|Coat of arms of Miloradovich family]]

Mikhail Miloradovich was the son of Major General [[Andrei Miloradovich]] (1726–1798). The [[Miloradović noble family|Miloradovichs]] descended from an Eastern Orthodox [[Serb]] noble family and a ''[[Katun (commune)|katun]]'' clan from Hum, who rose to a station of prominent  of [[Sanjak of Herzegovina]]. The Russian branch of the Miloradovich family was established in 1715, when [[Mikhail I Miloradovich]] (the first) ({{lang-sr-Cyrl|Михаило Милорадовић}}), one of three brothers recruited by [[Peter I of Russia|Peter I]] to incite [[Russo-Turkish War (1710–1711)|rebellion against the Turks]] four years earlier, fled from [[Herzegovina]] to Russia and joined Peter's service as a colonel.<ref name="SU70" /><ref name="T617" /> He was a commander of the [[Hadiach Regiment]]. Towards the end of Peter's reign he was imprisoned in connection with [[Pavlo Polubotok]]'s treason case, but was spared from further misfortune by Peter's death. His grandson Andrey served thirty years in the Russian Army and later moved into civil administration as the Governor of [[Little Russia]] and the [[Chernigov governorate]].<ref name=SU70/> The family owned lands in the [[Poltava Governorate]];<ref name=EN465/> Mikhail inherited up to fifteen hundred [[serf]]s.<ref name=LE452/>

Mikhail's father "enrolled" him in the military in his infancy, and later sent teenage Mikhail to study military sciences in the universities of [[University of Königsberg|Königsberg]] and [[University of Göttingen|Göttingen]], and in [[Strasbourg]] and [[Metz]].<ref name=EN465/> According to [[Nikolai Leskov]], the education was superficial: Leskov described Mikhail as a boy of "charming ignorance" who did not even master the French language properly, and said that his French was littered with the "most grave and curious mistakes"<ref name=LE449/> (an anecdote credited him with blending ''pittoresque'' and ''synagogue'' into ''"pittagogue"'').<ref name=FREER/> Sixteen-year-old Mikhail returned to Russia in 1787, joined the army as a [[praporshchik]] (a junior commissioned officer rank) in the [[Izmaylovsky Regiment]] and was soon sent into action in the [[Russo-Swedish War (1788–1790)|Russo-Swedish War of 1788–1790]].<ref name=EN465/>

==Military career==

===Italian and Swiss campaigns===

{{further|Italian and Swiss expedition of 1799}}

Miloradovich did not earn any distinction in the war of 1788–1790, but he advanced rapidly in peacetime. A captain of the Guards in 1796, [[Paul of Russia|Paul I]] regarded him favorably and he was promoted to the rank of colonel in 1797 and major general and chief of the Apsheron Artillery Regiment in 1798.<ref name=LE449/> In the same year, he departed to join [[Alexander Suvorov]]'s troops in Italy. He won Suvorov's unconditional trust for taking [[Lecco]] on the eve of the [[Battle of Cassano (1799)|Battle of Cassano]] and for commanding the rearguard in the [[Battle of Gotthard Pass|crossing of the Gotthard Pass]].<ref name=LE450/> At [[Battle of Bassignana (1799)|Bassignana]] he changed three horses killed by the enemy but was not even scratched; at [[Altdorf, Uri|Altdorf]] he led assault infantry over a burning bridge;<ref name=LE450/><ref name=ZLER2/> at [[Battle of Muottental|Mutten]] on 1 October his regiment was standing ahead of the first line in [[Skirmisher|skirmish]] order. These and similar episodes, true or anecdotal, forged public opinion of Miloradovich as a daring and lucky field commander, an opinion that he himself cultivated for the rest of his life.<ref name=LE450/> Miloradovich was adored at home, but the French held a different opinion: [[Adolphe Thiers]] described Miloradovich as "a Servian {{sic}}, of brilliant valour, but absolutely destitute of military knowledge, dissolute in manners, uniting all the vices of civilization with all the vices of barbarism".<ref name=TH69/>

Paul rewarded Miloradovich with the [[Order of St. Anna|Order of St. Anne]] 1st class, the [[Russian tradition of the Knights Hospitaller|Order of St. John of Jerusalem]] and the [[Order of St. Alexander Nevsky]]. Suvorov, in violation of military codes, transferred Miloradovich from field troops to his staff as a "general in waiting"; Paul later cited this fact as a pretext to dismiss Suvorov.<ref name=SA2001/> Friendship between Miloradovich and Paul's second son [[Grand Duke Constantine Pavlovich of Russia|Constantine]] also dated back to the Swiss campaign. Constantine awarded Miloradovich a gilded sword with an inscription ''To my friend Miloradovich'', which Miloradovich had with him on the day of his death.<ref name=K204/>

===Amstetten and Austerlitz===

{{further|War of the Third Coalition}}

Miloradovich played a key role in the [[Battle of Amstetten]], where [[Mikhail Kutuzov]] ordered his three regiments to take a stand and provide relief for [[Pyotr Bagration]]'s troops.<ref name=KA458/> "Above all, skillful maneuvering of the Russian force, including timely arrival of Miloradovich and his intelligent application of the reserve forces at his disposal, prevented the collapse of the rear guard".<ref name=KA458/> The action at Amstetten allowed Kutuzov to break contact with the French and prevented an all-out battle that would have been disastrous for the Russians.<ref name=KA4589/> Reports of the battle by Miloradovich himself contradict the French accounts and are not corroborated by Bagration's laconic report: each side presented their own perspective,<ref name=KA458/> and Miloradovich had a particular penchant for glorifying his own actions. His action at Amstetten was rewarded with the [[Order of St. George]] 3rd class and promotion to lieutenant general.<ref name=SU72/> On November 11, 1805 Miloradovich attacked the French in the [[Battle of Dürenstein]] (referred to as the Battle of [[Krems an der Donau|Krems]] in Russian sources), but the French withdrew before his corps could inflict significant damage.<ref name=KA479/>

The [[Battle of Austerlitz]] saw Miloradovich in charge of the Russian part of a Russian-Austrian infantry column (2,875 out of 11,795 men),<ref name=CH44/> one of the four columns placed on Pratzen Heights, which had been abandoned by the French.<ref name=KA574/> Another, a larger part of the column was under Austrian command; the close presence of Kutuzov somewhat mitigated the perils of divided command.<ref name=KA574/> Tsar Alexander ordered this column to move before others were deployed; Kutuzov, unable to oppose the tsar,<ref name=CH51/> ordered Miloradovich to advance across the Goldbach Stream to Kobylnice, disregarding enemy action and difficult terrain.<ref name=KA5745/> Hills and fog obstructed the view, and the column marched straight into the bulk of the French armies.<ref name=KA594/> [[Jean-de-Dieu Soult|Soult]]'s troops mauled the mixed column and Miloradovich retreated. Alexander summoned his brother Constantine for help (although an alternative account by [[Scott Bowden|Bowden]] and [[Christopher Duffy|Duffy]] asserts that Miloradovich contacted Constantine himself).<ref name=KA611/> Contrary to the popular view that "he was almost the only Russian general who obtained an advantage over the French" at Austerlitz,<ref name=ZLER1/> General [[Karl Wilhelm von Toll]] contested Miloradovich's actions, asserting that his column was the first to fall back and that it was Bagration, not Miloradovich, who saved the allied troops from annihilation.<ref name=SAP/>

=== Russian-Turkish War ===

{{further|Russo-Turkish War (1806–1812)}}

The war of 1806–1812 began with Russian occupation of [[Moldavia]] and [[Wallachia]]. After the Turks responded by taking [[Bucharest]], Russian commander-in-chief [[Ivan Ivanovich Michelson]] dispatched Miloradovich to intervene. Miloradovich captured Bucharest on December 13 without significant resistance from the Turks and was rewarded with a golden sword with diamonds ''"For the taking of Bucharest"''. The Turks, manipulated by the French envoy [[Horace François Bastien Sébastiani de La Porta|Sébastiani]], did not declare war until five days later. No large-scale action followed. In May 1807 Miloradovich tried to capture [[Giurgiu]], but failed and fell back to Bucharest. On 2 June  1807, he redeemed himself by checking the Turkish advance [[Battle of Obilești|at Obilești]].{{citation needed|date=November 2020}}

The years 1808 and 1809 did not see any remarkable action either, but were marked by a dual intrigue among top Russian generals; at the top level, Mikhail Kutuzov was in conflict with [[Alexander Prozorovsky]], while below them burned a feud between Miloradovich and Pyotr Bagration. Bagration temporarily succeeded Prozorovsky as commander-in-chief, but later both Miloradovich and Bagration lost their commands. At the beginning of 1810 [[Alexander I of Russia|Alexander]] recalled Miloradovich from front-line duty and tasked him with assembling a new army in [[Belarus]].<ref name=LE450/> In April 1810 Miloradovich was appointed Governor of [[Kiev]] but soon tended his resignation.<ref name=LE450/> He was officially discharged in September 1810 but was called up for service in November, again, as Governor of Kiev.<ref name=LE450/>

===Napoleon's invasion of Russia===

{{further|French invasion of Russia}}

[[File:Battle vyazma.jpg|thumb|right|The Battle of Vyazma]]

At the beginning of the 1812 campaign, Miloradovich was tasked with assembling and training volunteer [[militia]] troops in the hinterland; he returned to action on the eve of the [[Battle of Borodino]] with 14,600 militiamen.<ref name=EN80/> Kutuzov appointed Miloradovich commander of front-line forces of the right (northern) flank, comprising [[Karl Gustav von Baggovut|Baggovut]]'s Second Infantry Corps and  [[Alexander Ivanovich Ostermann-Tolstoy|Ostermann-Tolstoy]]'s Fourth Infantry Corps.<ref name=EN83/> The battle plan required Miloradovich to protect the old [[Smolensk]]-Moscow road.<ref name=EN83/> On the day of the battle, {{OldStyleDateNY|September 7|August 26}}, Kutuzov realised that enemy action was concentrated against his center and left flank and, at about 9 a.m., he ordered Miloradovich to march to the south and attack the French left flank.<ref name=EN86/> Riding in advance of his troops, Miloradovich was caught up in the heat of the battle for Semyonovskoe and, together with [[Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly|Barclay de Tolly]], [[Aleksey Yermolov (general)|Yermolov]] and [[Nikolay Raevsky|Rayevsky]], sought refuge in the defences of the Fourth Division.<ref name=EN88/> Between 10 a.m. and 12 noon his troops took a stand in the center of the Russian line and held off French attacks, with Baggovut's corps seeing critical action around noon,<ref name=EN89/> and Ostermann's corps around 4 p.m.<ref name=EN90/> By the end of the battle, the French succeeded in forcing the Russians from their defences, and Miloradovich's troops fell back to the same Smolensk road from where they had started.<ref name=EN91/> Baggovut took a stand there and held the road until nightfall against ferocious attacks by Polish cavalry.<ref name=EN91/>

After the battle, Miloradovich took command of the rearguard, sheltering Kutuzov's army from the advancing French. Enemy pressure prevented him from attending the [[Council at Fili|Council]] in [[Fili (Moscow)|Fili]] that decided to surrender Moscow. Miloradovich, acting on behalf of Kutuzov, made a deal with [[Joachim Murat|Murat]]: if the French wanted Moscow intact, they had to allow Miloradovich free passage to the east, or face stubborn [[urban warfare]]. [[Hereford George]] wrote that "Murat apparently deemed it beneath his dignity to confer with a mere general" and that he left the talks to Sébastiani.<ref name=HBG145/> According to [[Fyodor Glinka]], however, Murat and Miloradovich negotiated directly with each other prior to the surrender of Moscow; Miloradovich contacted Sébastiani only after the French took Moscow and their cavalry engaged the Russian rear. Sébastiani honored the accord, called back the cavalry and allowed the safe retreat of two Russian regiments trapped between advancing French columns.<ref name=GL1114/><ref name=TH212/> Temporary loss of contact between Murat and the Russian rearguard allowed Kutuzov to make a westward turn: Murat kept on advancing south-east towards [[Bronnitsy]] while Kutuzov marched in the opposite direction.<ref name=TH218/>

On {{OldStyleDateNY|September 20|September 8}}, Kutuzov took defensive positions at [[Podolsk]] and dispatched Miloradovich to take position in front of the advancing French, 12 kilometers to the east.<ref name=EN691/> Four days later, Murat engaged Miloradovich and forced him to fall back to [[Krasnaya Pakhra]]<ref name=EN692/> (deliberately setting a trap, according to Glinka<ref name=GL15/>). Miloradovich barely escaped death or captivity when his headquarters were raided by French cavalry scouts on {{OldStyleDateNY|September 27|September 15}}.<ref name=GL1718/> On {{OldStyleDateNY|September 29|September 17}}, Miloradovich successfully counterattacked Murat's corps at Chirikovo, taking one [[general de brigade]] prisoner.<ref name=EN692/><ref name=GL19/> At this point, Kutuzov preferred to retreat further south; the main army marched to [[Tarutino, Russia|Tarutino]], while Miloradovich, now having Ostermann-Tolstoy's corps under his command, retreated to a fallback position on the Chernishnya River, 8 kilometers north of Tarutino.<ref name=EN692/> Glinka wrote that from {{OldStyleDateNY|September 9|August 28}} to {{OldStyleDateNY|October 5|September 23}} Miloradovich was continuously fighting the French, including four significant battles, and lamented that few of his deeds reached the public eye: "He is not a hero of the ''[[Sankt-Peterburgskie Vedomosti|Vedomosti]]'', but a hero of history and of the future."<ref name=GL7/> During the standoff on the Chernishnya, Miloradovich had another person-to-person negotiation with Murat, while his own camp was filled with masses of French stragglers taken prisoner.<ref name=GL27/> Modern Russian historians criticized as indecisive his actions in the [[Battle of Tarutino]] ({{OldStyleDateNY|October 18|October 6}}), when poor coordination of Russian columns met its match in poor discipline of the French camp,<ref name=EN694/> but to contemporaries like Glinka and [[William Cathcart, 1st Earl Cathcart|William Cathcart]] the battle was a clear success.<ref name=GL2935/><ref name=CA7980/>

After the [[Battle of Maloyaroslavets]], Russian troops split into three pursuit columns, led by Miloradovich, [[Matvey Platov]] and Kutuzov himself.<ref name=EN169/> Miloradovich marched directly on [[Vyazma]], occupied by four French corps ([[Eugène de Beauharnais|Beauharnais]], [[Louis Nicolas Davout|Davout]], [[Michel Ney|Ney]], [[Józef Antoni Poniatowski|Poniatowski]]), while Platov closed in on it from the north. On {{OldStyleDateNY|October 31|October 19}} Miloradovich and Platov agreed to storm Vyazma.<ref name=EN169/> The [[Battle of Vyazma]] began at dawn of {{OldStyleDateNY|November 3|October 22}}.<ref name=EN170/> Miloradovich quickly deployed front-line artillery that withstood Beauharnais's counterstrike and forced Davout's troops to take cover in the forest. Davout lost two hours taking a detour to reunite with Ney in Vyazma; at 2 p.m., when Miloradovich ordered a general assault, the French were already unable to resist.<ref name=EN170/> By 5 p.m. Miloradovich took control of the city, capturing French supply trains (but only three cannons).<ref name=EN170/>

On {{OldStyleDateNY|November 15|November 3}} Miloradovich's three corps, marching ahead of the retreating French, took position to the French rear near [[Krasny, Krasninsky District, Smolensk Oblast|Krasny]].<ref name=EN379/> Miloradovich began the three-day [[Battle of Krasnoi]] by capturing a large supply train and cutting Ney and Beauharnais off from Napoleon's army.<ref name=EN379/> The next day, Beauharnais exhausted his troops in a breakthrough and refused Miloradovich's invitation to surrender; at night the decimated remains of his corps escaped through the woods.<ref name=EN379/><ref name=CA90/> On {{OldStyleDateNY|November 18|November 6}} Ney made his own unsuccessful attempt to break through Miloradovich's defences. Miloradovich again offered honorable surrender, but Ney arrested the messenger and expended his 10th and 11th divisions in a frontal assault.<ref name=EN379/> At night his forces of 3,000 men escaped over the frozen [[Dnieper River|Dnieper]], but only 800 made it to [[Orsha]].<ref name=EN380/><ref name=CA91/> Miloradovich missed the opportunity to intercept the [[Battle of Berezina|French crossing of Berezina]] by two days.<ref name=CA106/>

In December 1812, Alexander awarded Miloradovich the Order of St. George, 2nd class. In line with Kutuzov's ''December Plan'', Miloradovich led a Russian vanguard due west and took [[Warsaw]] on {{OldStyleDate|February 8|1813|January 27}}.<ref name=EN234/>

===Campaign of 1813–1814===

{{further|War of the Sixth Coalition}}

The appointment of [[Peter Wittgenstein]] as commander-in-chief of the united Russian and Prussian armies provoked open hostility from his new subordinates and, at the same time, from his seniors: Miloradovich, Barclay de Tolly, [[Louis Alexandre Andrault de Langeron|Langeron]], [[Matvey Platov|Platov]] and [[Alexander Tormasov|Tormasov]].<ref name=EN183/> Tormasov refused to obey Wittgenstein altogether and left the army, while Miloradovich stayed and became the "official speaker" for the opposition.<ref name=EN183/> The conflict burned until the failures at [[Battle of Lützen (1813)|Lutzen]] and [[Battle of Bautzen (1813)|Bautzen]] compelled Wittgenstein to resign his command.<ref name=EN183/><ref name=CA148/>

Miloradovich's own record in May 1813 was mixed: at Lutzen his corps of 12,000 men arrived too late to influence the outcome.<ref name=TH364/><ref name=CA129/> In the following week he covered the retreat to the [[Elbe]]. Thiers wrote that the French "made him pay dearly for his useless boast" (his resolve to defend a certain position).<ref name=TH369/> Cathcart praised his skillful rearguard action<ref name=CA134/> but noted that by May 12 his corps had shrunk to about 10,000.<ref name=CA141/> At Bautzen, Miloradovich managed to push [[Nicolas Oudinot|Oudinot]] out of Tronberg, but the battle as a whole remained a French victory.<ref name=TH388/><ref name=CA156/>

Miloradovich and Constantine spent the remainder of the war, almost a year, in close cooperation and proximity as chiefs of infantry and cavalry reserves. In August 1813, after expiry of the [[Truce of Pläswitz]], Miloradovich led the reserve force of 24,000 Guards and Grenadiers into [[Bohemia]] and Constantine followed him with 11,000 "splendid cavalry"<ref name=CA229/> and artillery.<ref name=CA203/> Together with Barclay's headquarters, they formed one of four allied columns that converged on [[Dresden]] but had not been brought into the action of the [[Battle of Dresden]].<ref name=CA229/> Three days later they were employed against [[Dominique Vandamme|Vandamme]] in the [[Battle of Kulm]],  a "fortunate victory that conferred advantages beyond all calculations".<ref name=CA240/> On the eve of the [[Battle of Leipzig]] the forces of Miloradovich and Constantine, stationed near [[Margeborn]], formed the reserve of the coalition army.<ref name=CA302/> In December 1813 they crossed the [[Rhine]] and headed into France.<ref name=CU179/>

Miloradovich's actions in 1813 were rewarded with the [[Order of St. Andrew]], the title of count and the right to wear Alexander's insignia on his shoulder, the first such honor ever granted in Russia. Miloradovich concluded the campaign of 1814, his last one, in Paris. After [[Pyotr Gorchakov|General Gorchakov]]'s infantry overran the French defensive artillery, Miloradovich was the one to bring in twenty [[howitzer]]s and open fire at the city.<ref name=CU255/>

==Governor of Saint Petersburg==

[[File:7 ноября 1824 года на площади у Большого театра.jpg|thumb|left|[[Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre]] during the flood of 1824. Handling flood damage and managing theatre were two best known sides of Miloradovich's administration.]]

After the [[Treaty of Fontainebleau (1814)|Treaty of Fontainebleau]] Alexander appointed Miloradovich commander of the [[Imperial Guard (Russia)|Russian Imperial Guard]];<ref name=SU74/> in 1818 Miloradovich became Governor of Saint Petersburg, assuming command of all the troops, police and civil administration of the imperial capital.<ref name=SU76/> He had the unconditional trust of Alexander, who could hardly have found a worse candidate for the job. As chief of police, Miloradovich controlled political surveillance and investigation in Saint Petersburg, but the events of 1825 demonstrated that he ultimately failed to respond to the real threat: he dismissed the evidence against the [[Decembrist revolt|Decembrists]], saying "It's all stuff; leave these young blockheads alone to read to each other their trash of miserable verses."<ref name=K112/>

His affection for the arts and his ex officio duty as a censor at the peak of the [[Golden Age of Russian Poetry]] resulted in frequent contacts with authors and actors, and, apart from his death and his actions during the disastrous flood of 1824, his administration was remembered largely through anecdotes and artists' memoirs of varying reliability. This was not uncommon for Russian commanders; [[Nikolay Raevsky]] said "They [the writers of his time] turned me into a Roman, Miloradovich into a great man, Wittgenstein into the saviour of the fatherland, and Kutuzov into [[Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus|Fabius]]. I am not a Roman, and neither are these gentlemen."<ref name=RAE/>

[[Alexander Herzen]] who met Miloradovich in early childhood and fondly remembered him as a storyteller "with the greatest vivacity, with lively mimicry, with roars of laughter"<ref name=H10/> ridiculed Miloradovich as an administrator yet called him "a warrior poet who understood poetry&nbsp;... grand things are done by great means."<ref name=H204/> Herzen's memoirs provide a number of anecdotes about Miloradovich the administrator (none of which could have been witnessed by the narrator).<ref name=HER/>

In 1820 Miloradovich interrogated [[Alexander Pushkin]] on suspicion of political propaganda.<ref name=BE302/> Pushkin's name had already become a blanket cover for all kinds of incendiary pamphlets and he was desperate to clear himself of dangerous misattributions.<ref name=BE302/> Pushkin said that he burned his "contraband poems" and recited some from memory.<ref name=BE302/> Miloradovich said "Ah, c'est chevaleresque", dismissed the charges and sent Pushkin on a well-paid tour of the south.<ref name=BE302/> [[Vladimir Nabokov]] noted that all of Pushkin's influential friends could not have saved him had it not been for Miloradovich's "amiable conduct of the whole affair".<ref name=N427/> There was a rumor that Pushkin was flogged on orders of Miloradovich, who fought a duel with at least one person who repeated it.<ref name=N428/>

Author and publisher [[Nikolai Grech]] recounted another, less inspiring episode: in 1824 Miloradovich vigorously investigated an alleged breach of censorship rules at a printshop owned by Grech and Bezacque. Fifteen years earlier, when Miloradovich and Pyotr Bagration had a feud, Bezacque was Bagration's secretary and apparently became a lifelong enemy of Miloradovich. Grech easily refuted "factual evidence" and could have escaped unharmed, but Miloradovich brought his belated revenge down on Grech, inflicting on him a full police and court inquiry that dragged on until 1828. Miloradovich probably did not realise that the whole case was set up by [[Aleksey Arakcheyev]] and [[Mikhail Magnitsky]] to unseat {{Interlanguage link|Alexander Nikolayevich Golitsyn|ru|3=Голицын, Александр Николаевич|lt=Alexander Golitsyn}}.<ref name=GRE/>

The lifestyle of the "bizarre administrator"<ref name=N427/> was just as bizarre. Miloradovich lived alone in a luxurious apartment "in complete disarray coupled with the most exquisite taste",<ref name=SU76Q/> without a single bedroom; "I spend the night where I feel like", he used to say.<ref name=SU76Q/> Family fortune and rewards from the tsar could not match his spending, and he sold off most of his lands and serfs.<ref name=LE452/> Posthumous sale of his remaining estate barely covered his debts.<ref name=SU79/>

==Theatre and sexuality==

[[File:Alexander Shakhovskoy, 1819.jpg|thumb|right|Theatre manager Alexander Shakhovskoy allegedly provided female company to Miloradovich.]]

In 1821, theatre managers Apollon Maikov and Prince [[Alexander Shakhovskoy]] allegedly tried to manipulate Miloradovich to overthrow the stern and frugal director of imperial theatres, Prince Tyufyakin.<ref name=SC106/> Miloradovich lent them support and then himself "grabbed both the power and the purse strings";<ref name=SC106/> Miloradovich, Maikov and Shakhovskoy became a "committee of three formidable officials" that governed the everyday life of the imperial theatres.<ref name=SC140/> The change coincided with rumours of Shakhovskoy's trafficking in actresses;<ref name=SC106/> the death of Miloradovich and the ascension of [[Nicholas I of Russia|Nicholas I]] ended Shakhovskoy's career.<ref name=SC146/>

The private life of Miloradovich, who never married and had no offspring, has been a controversial subject. Contemporaries<ref name=SC142q/> condemned him for a desire "to create his own [[harem]] in the theatre school"<ref name=SC109/> that allegedly became a reality with the aid of Shakhovskoy and Maikov. According to these sources, Miloradovich "had a weakness for women" and regularly spent evenings in the company of Shakhovskoy and female trainees of his theatre school; the chosen favorites then enjoyed the general's benevolence after graduation.<ref name=SC142q/><ref name=SC109/> Catherine Shuler noted that the appetites of Miloradovich and other dignitaries could be the cause of high "traffic in women" on stage and that "the resemblance between serf actresses and imperial actresses is surely not coincidental".<ref name=SC109/> [[Alexandra Kolosova]], in 1822, was the first actress to break the ring and flee to Paris;<ref name=SC140/> upon return to Saint Petersburg she sought protection from Alexander, but Miloradovich had her arrested for twenty-four hours for turning down "the most insignificant role" offered to her.<ref name=SC142/> Miloradovich had lead actor [[Vasily Karatygin]] arrested for similar insubordination; when the prisoner's mother pleaded for mercy, Miloradovich responded: "I only like comedy onstage. I've seen blood, madam, tears don't move me".<ref name=SC105142/>

Vladimir Bryukhanov suggested that Miloradovich was homosexual,<ref name=BRC/> disregarding or dismissing evidence to the contrary, such as the memoirs of [[Nadezhda Durova]]. (Durova, disguised as a young man, was aide to Miloradovich in 1810 and later wrote about his affairs with women and their influence on the general's demeanor and on his relationships with subordinate officers.)<ref name=DU18/> The standard version of events holds that his last passion was ballerina [[Yekaterina Teleshova]], who earlier had an affair with [[Alexander Griboyedov]], a diplomat "too short of money to be a long-term rival to the general"<ref name=KE110/> (In 1825, Griboyedov wrote "... Miloradovich, that boastful idiot whom Shakhovskoy grovels to and idolises. They are both cattle."<ref name=KE110/>).

==Interregnum==

{{further|Russian interregnum of 1825}}
[[File:La mort alexandre taganrog.jpg|thumb|left|The death of Alexander I in [[Taganrog]] was followed with an [[interregnum]] that culminated in the [[Decembrist revolt]].]]

In the summer of 1823, Alexander I issued a secret manifest excluding Constantine from the order of succession and making Nicholas [[heir presumptive]] to the throne.<ref name=A234/><ref name=K2441/> Historians argue as to whether or not Miloradovich had been formally made aware of Alexander's decision. Only three men&nbsp;&ndash; Aleksey Arakcheyev, Alexander Golitsyn, and [[Filaret, Metropolitan of Moscow|Archbishop Filaret]]&nbsp;&ndash; definitely knew the contents and whereabouts of the manifest; neither Constantine nor Nicholas knew the whole story.<ref name=A234Q/>

On {{OldStyleDate|December 9|1825|November 27}}, when news of Alexander's death in [[Taganrog]] reached Saint Petersburg, Miloradovich bullied Nicholas into pledging allegiance to Constantine, who was then living in [[Warsaw]] as [[viceroy of Poland]].<ref name=B144Q2/> Golitsyn arrived at the palace later and announced the terms of Alexander's manifest, but Miloradovich persuaded the [[State Council of Imperial Russia|State Council]] that Nicholas was aware of it and that his pledge of allegiance to Constantine was effectively an act of [[abdication]].<ref name=A237/><ref name=B145/><ref name=K8589/> Miloradovich then sent a messenger to Moscow with two instructions: to pledge allegiance to Constantin and to keep the original of Alexander's manifest secret and locked away.<ref name=K102/> Faced with the question, "What if Constantine holds to his resignation?", Miloradovich allegedly responded, "When one has one hundred thousand bayonets in one's pocket, it is easy to speak with boldness".<ref name=B145/><ref name=GOR/>

Correspondence between Saint Petersburg and Warsaw took two weeks, during which Miloradovich acted as de facto [[interrex]] and regularly assured Nicholas that "everything is quiet".<ref name=NQ1/><ref name=K111/> Constantine firmly refused to reign and blessed his brother's accession to the throne,<ref name=K6675/> but for a while the hesitant Nicholas took no action. On the morning<ref name=K131/> of {{OldStyleDateNY|December 24|December 12}}, Nicholas received detailed reports of the brewing Decembrist revolt from [[Hans Karl von Diebitsch|Diebitsch]] and [[Alexander Chernyshyov|Chernyshov]],<ref name=K134/> and discussed the matter with Miloradovich and Golitsyn.<ref name=NQ/><ref name=K13637/> According to Nicholas himself, the evidence was overwhelming. Miloradovich promised to mobilise all police resources but did nothing<ref name=NQ2/><ref name=A241V/> or, according to Korf, his "investigations remained completely fruitless. His researches had not discovered one person on whom suspicion could reasonably fall".<ref name=K154/>

The actions of Miloradovich during the interregnum were highly controversial and provoked fringe conspiracy theories placing him at the top of the Decembrist rebel ring.<ref name=BRQ/> Mainstream historians provide different explanations of his motives, none of which supports the theory of "Decembrist Miloradovich":
* [[Mikhail Safonov (historian)|Mikhail Safonov]] suggested that there were three contenders for the throne: Constantin, Nicholas and their mother [[Maria Feodorovna (Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg)|Maria Fyodorovna]]. Miloradovich supported Maria but in public he aligned with Constantine and later with Nicholas.<ref name=A234/> A similar version has been fictionalised by [[Igor Bunich]].<ref>[[Igor Bunich|Bunich, Igor]] (2003, in Russian). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=Pp-wjwRkJTsC Dinastichesky rok (Династический рок)]''. Olma Media Group. {{ISBN|5-7654-2300-0}}, {{ISBN|978-5-7654-2300-4}}. pp. 87-89.</ref>
* [[Yakov Gordin]] suggested that Miloradovich acted as an independent dictator, using Constantine merely as a front.<ref name=A234/>
* Andreeva supports a toned-down variation of Gordin's suggestion: that, regardless of Alexander's manifest, Miloradovich acted in good faith, supporting what he thought was the legitimate solution to a crisis.<ref name=A235/>

==Revolt and death==
{{main article|Decembrist revolt}}
[[File:Timm decembrists.jpg|thumb|right|Rebellion on Senate Square, {{OldStyleDate|December 26|1825|December 14}}]]

At 8 p.m.<ref name=K163/> on {{OldStyleDateNY|December 25|December 13}}, Nicholas declared himself emperor; at 7 a.m. the next morning, along with all senior statesmen present in Saint Petersburg, Miloradovich pledged his loyalty to Nicholas<ref name=A243/> (Korf suggested that Miloradovich recognised Nicholas as early as {{OldStyleDateNY|December 24|December 12}}<ref name=K141/>). Once again Miloradovich assured Nicholas that the city was "perfectly tranquil";<ref name=NQ/><ref name=K174/> [[Alexander von Benckendorff]] and other witnesses wrote that he was in his usual boastful, optimistic mood.<ref name=A243244/> Three hours later when Miloradovich enjoyed breakfast with Teleshova, general Neidhardt reported to Nicholas that the troops were marching towards the palace "in absolute mutiny".<ref name=NQ/><ref name=A244/>

At about noon on {{OldStyleDateNY|December 26|December 14}} Miloradovich, whom nobody had seen since the morning,<ref name=K196/> reported to Nicholas on [[Palace Square]].<ref name=A245/> Witnesses disagree on whether he was mounted or on foot, but all accounts point to his extraordinary excitement and loss of self-control.<ref name=A245/> According to Nicholas, Miloradovich told him: "Сеlа va mаl; ils marchent au Sénat, mais je vais leur раrlеr"<ref name=NQ/> (French: "That is bad; they are marching toward the Senate, but I will talk to them").<ref name=K197/> Nicholas coldly responded that Miloradovich must do his duty as the military governor and calm his troops down.<ref name=A245/> Miloradovich saluted, turned around, and headed to the barracks of the [[Life Guard Horse Regiment|Horse Guards]].<ref name=A246/> General Orlov of the Horse Guards pleaded with Miloradovich to stay with the loyal troops but Miloradovich refused to take cover, mounted a horse and rode out to the rows of rebel troops, accompanied either by two aides<ref name=A247/> or only by [[Paul Bashutsky|Bashutsky]] on foot.<ref name=K203/> Miloradovich harangued the soldiers for obedience, showing Constantine's sword "to prove that he would have been incapable of betraying him".<ref name=K2034/> Safonov pointed out that, instead of executing the tsar's order to lead the Mounted Guards against the rebels, Miloradovich "disobeyed it in a most incredible way&nbsp;... by going into the action alone."<ref name=SA151/>

Between 12:20 and 12:30 [[Pyotr Kakhovsky]] shot Miloradovich point-blank in the back;<ref name=A247/> "the bullet travelling up from below, from the back to the chest, tore the diaphragm, broke through all the parts and stopped beneath the right nipple".<ref name=SU83Q/> When Miloradovich slumped from his horse to the ground, [[Yevgeny Obolensky]] stabbed him with a [[bayonet]].<ref name=A247/> Miloradovich was taken to a nearby house, but by the time the surgeons arrived on the scene the marauders had stripped Miloradovich of his clothes, medals and jewelry.<ref name=A247/> Medics removed the bullet (it was later delivered to Nicholas);<ref name=K270/> Miloradovich remained conscious and dictated his last will in a letter to the tsar. There were three requests: to send His Majesty's regards to his relatives, to grant liberty to his serfs, and to "not forget the [[Apollon Aleksandrovich Maykov|old Maikov]]".<ref name=A249/> Miloradovich died around 3 a.m. on {{OldStyleDateNY|December 27|December 15}}.<ref name=DEATH/> After six days of lying in state, he was buried with honors at the [[Alexander Nevsky Lavra]].<ref name=A249/>

The investigation of the Decembrist revolt led to the hanging of Kakhovsky and four of his ringleaders; it did not reveal any illicit connection between the Decembrists and Miloradovich. The second killer, Obolensky, was stripped of his princely title and exiled to Siberia for thirteen years.

==Nobility==
The [[Miloradović noble family]] is listed in the nobility of the Russian Empire.<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1DsaAAAAYAAJ&q=andrei+miloradovich | title=Russian Heraldry and Nobility| isbn=9780963306395| last1=Mandich| first1=Donald R.| last2=Placek| first2=Joseph Anthony| year=1992| publisher=Ryton Publications}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Serbs in Russia]]
* [[Andrei Miloradovich]]
* [[Peter Mikhailovich Kaptzevich]]
* [[Nikolay Vuich]]
* [[Peter Ivanovich Ivelich]]
* [[Ivan Shevich]]
* [[Avram Ratkov]]
* [[Ivan Adamovich]]
* [[Nikolay Bogdanov]]
* [[Nikolay Depreradovich]]
* [[Ivan Lukačević (soldier)]]
* [[Jovan Šević]]
* [[Jovan Albanez]]
* [[Simeon Piščević]]
* [[Anto Gvozdenović]]
* [[Semyon Zorich]]
* [[Peter Tekeli]]
* [[Georgi Emmanuel]]
* [[Dejan Subotić]]
* [[Fedor Yakovlevich Mirkovich]]
* [[Marko Ivelich]]
* [[Rajko Depreradović]]
* [[Marko Voinovich]]
* [[Skarzynski]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|2|refs=
<ref name=DEATH>Andreeva, p. 247, states time of death as 2.45 a.m. {{OldStyleDateNY|December 27|December 15}}; Korf, p. 270 as "about three o'clock the next morning" (after the shooting).</ref>
<ref name=FREER>Freet, p. 379 (footnote).</ref>
<ref name=A18>Apart from the Romanov family. [[Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly]] and [[Levin August, Count von Bennigsen]] were both awarded the Order of St. George, 1st class, but in 1818 Barclay died and Bennigsen retired to his home in [[Hanover]].</ref>
<ref name=EN183>Bezotnosny et al., p. 183 (article credit: V. M. Bezotnosny).</ref>
<ref name=EN465>Bezotnosny et al., p. 465 (article credit: A. A. Smirnov).</ref>
<ref name=EN88>Bezotnosny et al., p. 88.</ref>
<ref name=EN89>Bezotnosny et al., p. 89.</ref>
<ref name=EN80>Bezotnosny et al., p. 80.</ref>
<ref name=EN83>Bezotnosny et al., p. 83.</ref>
<ref name=EN86>Bezotnosny et al., p. 86.</ref>
<ref name=EN90>Bezotnosny et al., p. 90.</ref>
<ref name=EN91>Bezotnosny et al., p. 91.</ref>
<ref name=EN169>Bezotnosny et al., p. 169 (article credit: V. M. Bezotnosny).</ref>
<ref name=EN170>Bezotnosny et al., p. 170 (article credit: V. M. Bezotnosny).</ref>
<ref name=EN234>Bezotnosny et al., p. 234 (article credit: V. M. Bezotnosny).</ref>
<ref name=EN379>Bezotnosny et al., p. 379 (article credit: Yu. L. Yepanchin).</ref>
<ref name=EN380>Bezotnosny et al., p. 380 (article credit: Yu. L. Yepanchin).</ref>
<ref name=EN691>Bezotnosny et al., p. 691 (article credit: A. A. Smirnov).</ref>
<ref name=EN692>Bezotnosny et al., p. 692 (article credit: A. A. Smirnov).</ref>
<ref name=EN694>Bezotnosny et al., p. 694 (article credit: A. I. Ulyanov).</ref>
<ref name=A234>Andreeva, p. 234.</ref>
<ref name=A234Q>Andreeva, p. 234: There were four, not three men: Miloradovich, [[Aleksey Arakcheyev]], {{Interlanguage link|Alexander Nikolayevich Golitsyn|ru|3=Голицын, Александр Николаевич|lt=Alexander Golitsyn}} and archbishop [[Filaret, Metropolitan of Moscow|Filaret of Moscow]] who kept the originals in the [[reliquary]] of the [[Dormition Cathedral, Moscow|Assumption Cathedral]] in the [[Moscow Kremlin]]. Korf, p. 42, and similar vintage sources list only Arakcheyev, Golitsyn and Filaret.</ref>
<ref name=A235>Andreeva, p. 235.</ref>
<ref name=A237>Andreeva, p. 237.</ref>
<ref name=A241V>Andreeva, p. 241, notes that Alexander himself, Arakcheyev and Golitsyn also "did nothing" when faced with similar evidence of conspiracies.</ref>
<ref name=A243244>Andreeva, pp. 243-244.</ref>
<ref name=A243>Andreeva, p. 243.</ref>
<ref name=A244>Andreeva, p. 244.</ref>
<ref name=A245>Andreeva, p. 245.</ref>
<ref name=A246>Andreeva, p. 246.</ref>
<ref name=A247>Andreeva, p. 247.</ref>
<ref name=A249>Andreeva, p. 249.</ref>
<!-- <ref name=B144Q1>Browning, pp. 144 and 145, refers to the manifest as the "paper" or "document" "drawn on August 28, 1823."</ref> -->
<ref name=B144Q2>Browning, p. 145: "Miloradovich .. had informed him, two days ''before'' the news of Tsar's death arrived from Taganrog, that he would not allow anyone but Constantine to succeed to the throne, and when the news came he announced that everyone must swear allegiance to Constantine." The fact that Miloradovich confidently pressed his point ''before'' the news hit St. Petersburg has been eagerly reused by conspiracy theorists.</ref>
<ref name=B145>Browning, p. 145.</ref>
<ref name=BE302>Bethea, p. 302.</ref>
<ref name=BRQ>Bryukhanov's ''Conspiracy of Count Miloradovich'' (Bryukhanov V. A. (2004, in Russian). ''Zagovor grafa Miloradovicha''. Moscow: AST. {{ISBN|5-17-020578-3}}, {{ISBN|5-271-07492-7}}), the most complete of these theories, alleges that Miloradovich masterminded the Decembrists through a few chosen intermediaries - Obolensky, [[Kondraty Ryleyev]] and others. Kakhovsky's shot, according to Bryukhanov, was a gang soldier's revolt against the hesitant boss who failed to succeed in{{Clarify|date=July 2011}} the uprising.</ref>
<ref name=BRC>cf. Bryukhanov V. A. (2004, in Russian). ''Zagovor grafa Miloradovicha''. Moscow: AST. {{ISBN|5-17-020578-3}}, {{ISBN|5-271-07492-7}}, pp. 55, 340.</ref>
<ref name=CA7980>Cathcart, pp. 79-80.</ref>
<ref name=CA90>Cathcart, p. 90, blamed the escape of Beauharnais on the awkward position taken by Miloradovich's corps in obedience to Kutuzov's battle orders.</ref>
<ref name=CA91>Cathcart, p. 91, estimated the number of French survivors at 4,000.</ref>
<ref name=CA106>Cathcart, p. 106: On the critical day of November 28, Miloradovich was at [[Barysaw]], two days' distance from Berezina crossing.</ref>
<ref name=CA129>Cathcart, pp. 129-130: Had Miloradovich arrived in time, his corps would increase allied force from sixty to eighty thousand, but his infantry could not make it until late evening, and the troops were exhausted by a long march anyway.</ref>
<ref name=CA134>Cathcart, p. 134.</ref>
<ref name=CA141>Cathcart, p. 141.</ref>
<ref name=CA148>Cathcart, pp. 148-149, sheds some light on the infighting between Barclay and Wittgenstein on the eve of the battle of Bautzen. Cust, p. 28, noted that, at Bautzen, Alexander and [[Frederick William III of Prussia|Frederick William]] had to take control of the troops themselves because of "jealousies having arisen against Wittgenstein" (the nominal commander).</ref>
<ref name=CA156>Cathcart, pp. 156-157, discusses the actions of Miloradovich "to arrest Oudinot's further progress".</ref>
<ref name=CA203>Cathcart, pp. 203-204.</ref>
<ref name=CA229>Cathcart, p. 229.</ref>
<ref name=CA240>Cathcart, p. 240.</ref>
<ref name=CA302>Cathcart, p. 302.</ref>
<ref name=CH44>Castle and Hook, p. 44.</ref>
<ref name=CH51>Castle and Hook, p. 51.</ref>
<ref name=CU179>Cust, p. 179.</ref>
<ref name=CU255>Cust, p. 255.</ref>
<ref name=DU18>Durova, part 1 chapter 8.</ref>
<ref name=GOR>Russian sources usually cite 60,000 rather than 100,000.</ref>
<ref name=HER>Herzen, pp. 187, 204 et al.</ref>
<ref name=H10>Herzen, p. 10.</ref>
<ref name=H204>Herzen, p. 204, wrote on ''Miloradovich and poetry'' in connection with [[Alexander Witberg]]'s utopian draft for the [[Cathedral of Christ the Saviour]]. According to Herzen, Miloradovich advised Witberg on his design.</ref>
<ref name=GL7>Glinka 1870, entry dated October 7, 1812: "большая часть знаменитых подвигов этого генерала не означена в ведомостях; но он, как я заметил, нимало этим не огорчается. Это значит, что он не герой "Ведомостей", а герой Истории и потомства... этот генерал, принявший, по просьбе Князя       Светлейшего, начальство над арьергардом после страшного Бородинского сражения, дрался с превосходным в числе неприятелем с 29 августа по 23 сентября, т. е. 26 дней беспрерывно. Некоторые из этих дней, как-то: 29 августа, 17 сентября и 20 и 22 того же месяца, ознаменованы большими сражениями, по десяти и более часов продолжавшимися."</ref>
<ref name=GL1114>Glinka 1814, pp. 11-14.</ref>
<ref name=GL15>Glinka 1814, p. 15.</ref>
<ref name=GL19>Glinka 1814, p. 19.</ref>
<ref name=GL27>Glinka 1814, p. 27.</ref>
<ref name=GL1718>Glinka 1814, pp. 17-18.</ref>
<ref name=GL2935>Glinka 1814, pp. 29-25. Glinka, a capable author and aide to Miloradovich, became his de facto press secretary, and his 1814 ''Deeds of Count Miloradovich'' is clearly a biased source.</ref>
<ref name=HBG145>Hereford George, p. 145.</ref>
<ref name=GRE>Grech, chapter 9.</ref>
<ref name=K2441>Korf outlined the events that led to the manifest on pp. 24-45, provided its full text on pp. 45-49 and discussed Alexander's motives for extreme secrecy on pp 55-58. On page 41 Korf wrote that "Nicholas remained in complete ignorance of what had taken place", however, this refers only to the specific terms of Constantine's renunciation of his rights in 1822 (p.40).</ref>
<ref name=K6675>Korf, pp. 66-75, 125-126 and 138-139, provides Constantine's letters to Nicholas and their mother.</ref>
<ref name=K8589>Korf, pp. 85-95. On p. 89 Korf reproduced the words of Miloradovich as recorded in the journal of the Council: "Grand Duke Nicholas has solemnly renounced the right conferred upon him by the manifest and had already set the example of swearing allegiance to His Majesty Emperor Constantine".</ref>
<ref name=K102>Korf, p. 102.</ref>
<ref name=K111>Korf, p. 111.</ref>
<ref name=K112>Korf, p. 112.</ref>
<ref name=K154>Korf, p. 154.</ref>
<ref name=K131>Korf, p. 131, wrote that the courier arrived at the palace at 6 a.m.</ref>
<ref name=K134>Korf, p. 134: the letter was signed by Diebitsch, as senior commander, but handwritten by Chernyshyov for utmost secrecy.</ref>
<ref name=K141>Korf, p. 141, wrote about a meeting between Miloradovich, Golitsyn and Nicholas, discussing details of how to proclaim Nicholas emperor and who would draft the ascension manifest.</ref>
<ref name=K163>Korf, p. 163.</ref>
<ref name=K174>Korf, pp. 174-175: "The information&nbsp;... could not fail to excite the most serious apprehensions, but the Military Governor-General still continued obstinately to affirm the contrary. The town, he said, is perfectly tranquil".</ref>
<ref name=K196>Korf, p. 196.</ref>
<ref name=K197>Korf, p. 197, rendered the same French phrase differently: in his version, "they encircle [[Bronze Horseman|the Monument]]" (to Peter I).</ref>
<ref name=K203>Korf, p. 203 reproduced the conversation between Orlov and Miloradovich, in French. Miloradovich replied to Orlov: "Que serait-ce donc un Gouverneur-General, qui ne saurait repandre son sang, quand le sang doit couler?" — "What kind of a Governor General would it be who feared to shed his blood when blood has to be shed?"</ref>
<ref name=K204>Korf, p. 204.</ref>
<ref name=K13637>Korf, pp. 136-137.</ref>
<ref name=K204T>Korf, p. 204, wrote about it as a fact: "his breast covered with stars and which had remained unviolated by a wound after fifty battles".</ref>
<ref name=K2034>Korf, pp. 203-204.</ref>
<ref name=K270>Korf, p. 270.</ref>
<ref name=KA458>Kagan, p. 458.</ref>
.<ref name=KA4589>Kagan, pp. 458-459.</ref>
<ref name=KA479>Kagan, p. 479.</ref>
<ref name=KA574>Kagan, p. 574.</ref>
<ref name=KA594>Kagan, p. 594.</ref>
<ref name=KA5745>Kagan, pp. 574-575.</ref>
<ref name=KA611>Kagan, p. 611.</ref>
<ref name=KE109>Kelly, p. 109.</ref>
<ref name=KE110>Kelly, p. 110.</ref>
<ref name=LE449>Leskov, p. 449: "Образование  Милорадовича было самое поверхностное, несмотря на то, что юные годы свои он провел за границею и учился сначала в Кенигсбергском университете, а потом в Геттингене, в Страсбурге и в Метце ... Проведя несколько лет за границею, Милорадович даже не усвоил себе там основательного знания иностранных языков и по-французски во всю жизнь говорил с самыми грубыми и забавными ошибками ... милое невежество молодого графа нисколько не помешало ему в свете." Note that Leskov erroneously calls Miloradovich "the young count" although he was awarded the title only in 1813.</ref>
<ref name=LE452>Leskov, p. 452.</ref>
<ref name=LE450>Leskov, p. 450.</ref>
<ref name=N427>Nabokov, p. 427.</ref>
<ref name=N428>Nabokov, p. 428. On p. 431 Nabokov discusses the probable identity of the unknown offender.</ref>
<ref name=NQ>Nicholas I, part 3.</ref>
<ref name=NQ1>"Город казался тих; так, по крайней мере, уверял граф Милорадович, уверяли и те немногие, которые ко мне хаживали, ибо я не считал приличным показываться и почти не выходил из комнат." - Nicholas I, part 3.</ref>
<ref name=NQ2>"Граф Милорадович должен был верить столь ясным уликам в существовании заговора и в вероятном участии и других лиц, хотя об них не упоминалось; он обещал обратить все внимание полиции, но все осталось тщетным и в прежней беспечности." - Nicholas I, part 3.</ref>
<ref name=RAE>Lotman and Ouspensky, pp. 188-189. The conversation was originally recorded, in French, by [[Konstantin Batyushkov]].</ref>
<ref name=SC146>Schuler, p. 146. On the same page and in comments on page 283, Schuler writes that "Miloradovich was the only man killed on Senate Square" on the day of the [[Decembrist Revolt]] - casting doubt on the author's credibility. The official roll of victims on that day, on Senate Square and around it, stood at over a thousand.</ref>
<ref name=SC105142>Schuler, pp. 105 and 142.</ref>
<ref name=SC106>Schuler, p. 106.</ref>
<ref name=SC109>Schuler, p. 109.</ref>
<ref name=SC140>Schuler, p. 140.</ref>
<ref name=SC142>Schuler, p. 142. Note that Schuler renders this episode based on Kolosova's memoirs alone.</ref>
<ref name=SC142q>Schuler, p. 142, provides a verbatim quote from [[Alexandra Kolosova]]: "Miloradovich, who spent every evening surrounded by a group of compliant female theatre students at Shakhovskoy's home...".</ref>
<ref name=SU70>Schultz, p. 70.</ref>
<ref name=SU72>Schultz, p. 72.</ref>
<ref name=SU74>Schultz, p. 74.</ref>
<ref name=SU76Q>Schultz, p. 76, quotes historian Alexander Mikhailovsky-Danilevsky.</ref>
<ref name=SU76>Schultz, p. 76.</ref>
<ref name=SU79>Schultz, p. 79.</ref>
<ref name=SU83Q>Schultz, p. 83, cites Alexander Bashutsky, Miloradovich's aide who accompanied the general at the moment of the shooting.</ref>
<ref name=SA151>Safonov 1994, p. 151: "не только не исполнил свой долг, но самым невероятным образом нарушил его."</ref>
<ref name=SA2001>Safonov 2001.</ref>
<ref name=SAP>Sapozhnikov quotes Toll's remarks on the margins of [[Alexander Mikhailovsky-Danilevsky]]'s manuscript (originally in German): "На отступлении Кутузова ретираду его прикрывал всегда кн. Багратион, а не Милорадович. При Шпремберге и Голлабрине именно командовал Багратион. При Аустерлице колонна Милорадовича первая бежала назад. Я был свидетелем сражения. Ретираду армии прикрывал Багратион, а отнюдь не Милорадович.".</ref>
<ref name=TH212>Thiers, v. 4, p. 212, wrote that "the proposal was readily accepted" by the French, corroborating Glinka's version.</ref>
<ref name=TH218>Thiers, v. 4, p. 218, blamed the success of the Russian deception on Sébastiani alone; modern Russian historiography (Bezotnosny et al. p. 691) blames it fully on Murat.</ref>
<ref name=TH69>Thiers, v.2 p. 69 (describing the 1805 campaign).</ref>
<ref name=TH364>Thieres, v. 4 p. 364.</ref>
<ref name=TH369>Thieres, v. 4 p. 369.</ref>
<ref name=TH388>Thieres, v. 4 p. 388.</ref>
<ref name=T617>Treasure, pp. 611-618, explains the events of the [[Russo-Turkish War (1710–1711)]] that led [[Daniel Petrovich]] of Montenegro and Mikhail Miloradovich of Herzegovina to accept Peter's offer.</ref>
<ref name=ZLER>Schnitzler, pp. 422-423, attributes "Murat" to [[Philippe Paul, comte de Ségur]] and "Bayard" to [[Mikhail Kutuzov]].</ref>
<ref name=ZLER1>Schnitzler, p. 423.</ref>
<ref name=ZLER2>Schnitzler, p. 423, attributes the case of three dead horses to the Battle of Lecco.</ref>
}}

===Materials used===
* {{Cite web |date=2023 |title=МИЛОРАДОВИЧ МИХАИЛ АНДРЕЕВИЧ • Great Russian Encyclopedia – Electronic version |url=https://old.bigenc.ru/military_science/text/2214152 |access-date=2023-09-27 |website=old.bigenc.ru}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin|2}}
* Andreeva, T. V. (1998, in Russian). ''[http://ideashistory.org.ru/a06.html Imperator Nikolai Pavlovich i graf M. A. Miloradovich (Император Николай Павлович и граф М. А. Милорадович)]''. СПБ: Философский век, выпуск 6 (The Philosophical Age. Almanac 6. Russia at the Time of Nicholas I: Science, Politics, Enlightenment. Ed. by T. Khartanovich, M. Mikeshin. St. Petersburg, 1998. 304 p.).
* Bezotnosny, V. M. et al. (2004, in Russian). ''Otechestvennaya voina 1812 goda. Encyclopedia (Отечественная война 1812 года. Энциклопедия)''. Moscow: Rosspan. {{ISBN|5-8243-0324-X}}.
* Bethea, David M. (2005). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=vv76hFm4QqIC The Pushkin Handbook]''. University of Wisconsin Press. {{ISBN|0-299-19560-0}}, {{ISBN|978-0-299-19560-1}}.
* Browning, Oscar (2008 reprint). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=goKrdtgLEPYC A History of the Modern World 1815-1910]''. Read Books (reprint). {{ISBN|1-4437-7778-1}}, {{ISBN|978-1-4437-7778-0}}.
* Castle, Ian; Hook, Christa (2002). ‘’[https://books.google.com/books?id=Uiw8Sok2Ka8C Austerlitz 1805: the fate of empires]’’. Osprey. {{ISBN|1-84176-136-2}}, {{ISBN|978-1-84176-136-7}}.
* [[William Cathcart, 1st Earl Cathcart|William Cathcart]] (1850). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=aO4aAAAAYAAJ Commentaries on the War in Russia and Germany in 1812 and 1813]''. London: J. Murray. Reissue: {{ISBN|1-891717-14-6}}.
* Cust, Edward (1863). ‘’[https://books.google.com/books?id=kT0QAAAAYAAJ Annals of the wars of the nineteenth century, Volume 4]’’. London: John Murray.
* [[Nadezhda Durova|Durova, Nadezhda]]; Zinn, Mary (translator) (1989 edition). ‘’[https://books.google.com/books?id=Cx1DAAAACAAJ The Cavalry Maiden: Journals of a Russian Officer in the Napoleonic Wars]’’. Indiana University Press. {{ISBN|0-253-20549-2}}, {{ISBN|978-0-253-20549-0}}.
* [[Hereford George|George, Hereford B.]] (2002 reissue). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=GVrKtqZJURYC Napoleon's Invasion of Russia]''. Janus Publishing Company Lim. {{ISBN|1-902835-14-X}}, {{ISBN|978-1-902835-14-3}}. Originally published in 1899.
* [[Nikolai Grech|Grech, Nikolai]] (2000 edition, in Russian). ''[http://az.lib.ru/g/grech_n_i/text_0030.shtml Zapiski o moei zhizni (Записки о моей жизни)]''. Moscow: Zakharov.
* Freer, Allan (1846). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=aPAaAAAAYAAJ Russian under Nicholas].'' North British Review, volume 5. Edinburgh: W. P. Kennedy.
* [[Fyodor Glinka|Glinka, Fyodor]] (1870, in Russian). ''[http://az.lib.ru/g/glinka_f_n/text_0060.shtml Pisma russkogo ofitsera (Письма русского офицера)]''. Moscow.
* [[Fyodor Glinka|Glinka, Fyodor]] (1814, in Russian). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=0wkKAAAAIAAJ Podvigi grafa Miloradovicha (Подвиги графа Милорадовича)]''. Moscow.
* [[Alexander Herzen|Herzen, Alexander]]; McDonald, Dwight (editor) (1982). ''[https://archive.org/details/mypastthoughtsme00herz My past and thoughts: the memoirs of Alexander Herzen]''. University of California Press. {{ISBN|0-520-04210-7}}, {{ISBN|978-0-520-04210-0}}.
* Kagan, Frederick (2007). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=XZdjTr7DCcgC The End of the Old Order: Napoleon and Europe, 1801-1805].'' Da Capo Press. {{ISBN|0-306-81545-1}}, {{ISBN|978-0-306-81545-4}}.
* Kelly, Laurence (2006). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=WNuk_yf0UIcC Diplomacy and Murder in Tehran: Alexander Griboyedov and Imperial Russia's Mission to the Shah of Persia]''. Tauris Parke Paperbacks. {{ISBN|1-84511-196-6}}, {{ISBN|978-1-84511-196-0}}.
* [[Modest Korf|Korf, M. A.]] (1857). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=vX7QpfFWGAQC The accession of Nicholas I]''. London: John Murray.
* [[Nikolai Leskov|Leskov, Nikolay]] (2003 edition, in Russian). ''Graf Mikhail Andreevich Miloradovich (Граф Михаил Андреевич Милорадович)'', in: Desyatnikov, V. A. (editor) (2003, in Russian). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=cf4wc34IswoC Blistatelny Sankt-Peterburg (Блистательный Санкт-Петербург)]''. Olma Media Group, {{ISBN|5-224-03767-0}}, {{ISBN|978-5-224-03767-4}}. pp.&nbsp;448–453. Originally published in 1869.
* [[Juri Lotman|Lotman, Jurij]]; [[Boris Uspensky|Ouspensky, Boris]] (1990, in French). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=AcRU0TCuq4IC Sémiotique de la culture russe: études sur l'histoire]''. L’Age du Homme. {{ISBN|2-8251-0017-X}}, 9782825100172.
* Miloradovich, G. A. (1871, in Russian). ''[https://archive.org/stream/orodiedvorianig00unkngoog/orodiedvorianig00unkngoog_djvu.txt O rodine dvoryan i grafa Miloradovicha]''. First edition: Kiev.
* [[Vladimir Nabokov|Nabokov, Vladimir]] (1990 reprint). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=wt3L9-Wy9MwC Eugene Onegin: A Novel in Verse: Commentary]''. Princeton University Press. {{ISBN|0-691-01904-5}}, {{ISBN|978-0-691-01904-8}}.
* [[Nicholas I of Russia|Nicholas I]] (1848, Russian translation from French). ''[http://www.hrono.ru/dokum/1800dok/1825nik1dnev.html Memoirs of Nicholas I (in Russian)]''.
* Schnitzler, Johann (1847). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=EegDAAAAQAAJ Secret history of the court and government of Russia under the emperors Alexander and Nicholas]''. London: Richard Bentley.
* Schuler, Catherine (2009). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=EMPoQxkeS8EC Theatre and identity in imperial Russia]''. University of Iowa Press. {{ISBN|1-58729-799-X}}, {{ISBN|978-1-58729-799-1}}.
* Safonov, M. M. (1994, in Russian). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=CksyAAAAMAAJ K istorii mezhdutsarstviya (К истории междуцарстия)]''. Proceedings of the Mavrodinskie conference 10–12 December 1994, Saint Petersburg (Мавродинские чтения: материалы к докладам 10-12 октября 1994 г., Санкт-Петербург). Saint Petersburg University.
* Safonov, M. M. (2001, in Russian). ''[http://adjudant.ru/suvorov/suvorov004.htm Pochemy Suvorov popal v nemilost (Почему Суворов попал в немилость)]''. Rodina magazine, no. 12, 2001.
* Sapozhnikov, A. I. (2008, in Russian). ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20110911014822/http://www.borodino.ru/download.php?file_id=131&__CM3__CM3=daa062fs9e99v0411c4485pu81 Neopublikovannaya Istoria kampanii 1812 goda A. I. Mihailovskogo-Danilevskogo (Неопубликованная «История кампании 1812 года» А.И. Михайловского-Данилевского)]''.
*Schultz, C. C. (2004). {{Cite web |url=http://www.taleon.ru/EN/taleonclub_ru/ProjectImages/2021/68_83-0.pdf |title=''A Russian Bayard'' |access-date=February 25, 2010 |archive-date=January 12, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060112004624/http://www.taleon.ru/EN/taleonclub_ru/ProjectImages/2021/68_83-0.pdf |url-status=dead }}. Taleon Club Magazine, [https://web.archive.org/web/20071024142757/http://www.taleon.ru/EN/Page2020.htm 2004 no. 8]. Retrieved 2011-07-16. Archived from [https://web.archive.org/web/20060112004624/http://www.taleon.ru/EN/taleonclub_ru/ProjectImages/2021/68_83-0.pdf the original] on 2006-01-12.
* [[Adolphe Thiers|Thiers, Adolphe]] (1865). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=ZgOUYztUyWoC History of the consulate and the empire of France under Napoleon, Volume 2]''. London: Lippincott.
* [[Adolphe Thiers|Thiers, Adolphe]] (1864). ''[https://archive.org/details/historyconsulat14thiegoog History of the consulate and the empire of France under Napoleon, Volume 4]''. London: Lippincott.
* Treasure, Geoffrey (1985). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=X-EU6mcWY5cC The making of modern Europe, 1648-1780]''. Routledge. {{ISBN|0-415-05136-3}}, {{ISBN|978-0-415-05136-1}}.
{{refend}}
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