View source for Pyotr Volkonsky

{{short description|Russian Field Marshal (1776-1852)}}
{{Multiple issues|
{{expand Russian|date=May 2023|topic=bio}}
{{More citations needed|date=March 2024}}
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{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix = [[List of Russian field marshals|General Field Marshal]], [[Serene Highness|His Serene Highness]]
| office = [[Ministry of the Imperial Court|Minister of Imperial Court and Properties]]
| term_start1          = 1826
| term_end1            = 1852
| name          = Pyotr Mikhailovich Volkonsky
| image         = File:Prince Pyotr Mikhailovich Volkonsky.jpg
| caption       = Portrait by [[George Dawe]], {{circa}} 1823
| birth_date    = 6 May 1776
| death_date    = 8 September 1852 (aged 76)
| birth_place   = [[St. Petersburg]], [[Russian Empire]]
| death_place   = [[Petergof|Peterhof]], [[St. Petersburg Governorate]], [[Russian Empire]]
| allegiance    = {{flag|Russian Empire}}
| branch        = {{army|Russian Empire}}
| serviceyears  =
| rank          = [[File:1912ir018-e01.png|25px|1912ir018-e01]] [[List of Russian field marshals|Field marshal]]
| unit          = [[13th Belozersk Infantry Regiment|Belozersk Infantry Regiment]]
| commands      = [[Chief of the General Staff]]
| battles       = {{tree list}}
*[[Napoleonic Wars]]
**[[War of the Third Coalition]]
*** [[Battle of Austerlitz]]
**[[French invasion of Russia]] 
*** [[Battle of Smolensk (1812)|Battle of Smolensk]]
*** [[Battle of Borodino]]
*** [[Battle of Tarutino]]
*** [[Battle of Maloyaroslavets]]
**[[War of the Sixth Coalition]]
*** [[Battle of Lützen (1813)|Battle of Lützen]]
*** [[Battle of Dresden]]
*** [[Battle of Leipzig]]
*** [[Battle of Hanau]]
{{Tree list/end}}
| awards        = [[Order of St. Andrew]]<br />
[[Order of St. George]]
}}

Prince '''Pyotr Mikhailovich Volkonsky''' ({{langx|ru|Пётр Миха́йлович Волко́нский|Pyotr Mikhaylovich Volkonskiy}}; {{OldStyleDate|6 May|1776|25 April}}{{snd}}{{OldStyleDate|8 September|1852|27 August}}) was an [[Russian Empire|Imperial Russian]] military commander, General-[[Field Marshal]] (1843), [[Adjutant General]] to [[Alexander I of Russia|Alexander I]], member of the [[State Council of Imperial Russia|State Council]] (1821).

==Biography==
Pyotr Volkonsky was born in [[St. Petersburg]] in 1776. Volkonsky participated in the plot to remove [[Paul I of Russia|Paul I]] from the throne and became one of the closest advisors to [[Alexander I of Russia|Alexander I]]. On the day of his baptism, he was enlisted as a [[sergeant]] in the [[Preobrazhensky Life Guards Regiment]], from which he was transferred as a [[non-commissioned officer]] to the Life Guards Cavalry Regiment. He entered military service as a [[warrant officer]] in the Life Guards Cavalry Regiment (March 10, 1783). Transferred to the [[Semenovsky Regiment]] (January 13, 1784). Appointed [[Ensign (rank)|ensign]] (January 1, 1793), [[junior lieutenant]] (January 1, 1794), [[lieutenant]] (November 11, 1796), and staff captain (April 22, 1796). Adjutant to Grand Duke Alexander I (November 7, 1797). Soon after Alexander I ascended the throne, he was made assistant chief of the Military Field Office of His Imperial Majesty, which at that time centralized all military management in the state. [[Captain]] (1799), [[colonel]] (May 27, 1800). Awarded the rank of [[major general]] with appointment as general-adjutant (September 15, 1801).

In the [[Third Coalition]], he served as duty general and general quartermaster first in the army of [[Friedrich Wilhelm von Buxhoeveden|F. W. Buxhoeveden]] (September 1805), and then in [[Mikhail Kutuzov|Mikhail Kutuzov's]] army (October 1805). He distinguished himself in the [[Battle of Austerlitz]] when he seized the standard of the [[Fanagoria Regiment]], striking at the enemy that was attacking [[Mikhail Kamensky|Kamensky's]] brigade, thereby throwing the opponent into confusion; during the counterattack, two cannons were recaptured. For this battle, he was awarded the [[Order of Saint George]], 3rd class. After the [[Treaty of Tilsit]], he was sent to France to study the organization of the [[Grande Armée|French army]] and its [[general staff]]. Upon his return, he was appointed manager of the Suite of His Imperial Majesty for quartermaster affairs (1810), and from that time on, P. M. Volkonsky became one of the leading figures in the [[Imperial Russian Army|Russian army]].

Prince Pyotr Volkonsky is considered the founder of the [[Russian General Staff]]: in 1810, he conducted a thorough analysis of all recent wars involving Russia and contemporary European wars, concluding that a unified structure for military planning and management (which had been dismantled by [[Paul I of Russia|Paul I]] in 1796) needed to be restored. At that time, this body became the Office of the Manager of the Suite of [[Alexander I of Russia|His Imperial Majesty]] (significantly expanded and transformed into the Main Staff in 1815). Under his leadership, the responsibilities of the [[quartermaster]] officials in peacetime and wartime were urgently developed; regulations governing the service of quartermaster officers were drafted and approved; the officer staffing system of the Suite was organized; Suite officials were assigned to all [[armies]], [[corps]], and [[Division (military)|divisions]]; and, in collaboration with the [[Minister of War]] [[Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly|Barclay de Tolly]], he developed the "Regulations for the Management of the Large Active Army." In those years, the [[Imperial Russian Army|Russian army]] also owes the establishment of a column leader school, which became the basis for staffing the general staff, and the creation of a military-topographic map depot.

In 1811, he sought the emperor's permission to create a library for the [[Russian general staff|General Staff]] and, as a start, donated 500 books on [[military science]] and [[history]] from his personal library; in response, [[Alexander I of Russia|Alexander I]] allocated a substantial sum for its further development (now the General Staff Library).

During the [[French invasion of Russia]], he served directly under the [[Alexander I of Russia|emperor]] and rendered important services several times. At his suggestion, Emperor [[Alexander I of Russia|Alexander I]] agreed to the retreat of Russian troops from the fortified camp near [[Drissa]], which was poorly situated.

During the foreign campaign of 1813–1814, he served with the emperor as chief of the main staff. For his distinction in the [[battle of Lützen (1813)|battle of Lützen]], he was promoted to [[lieutenant general]] (April 20, 1813). After the war, he traveled with the emperor to [[Vienna]] for the [[Congress of Vienna|congress]] (August 1814), and when the congress sessions were interrupted by the news of [[Napoleon I|Napoleon's]] escape from the island of [[Elba]], he was entrusted with all orders concerning the movement of the [[Imperial Russian Army|Russian army]] from the Vistula to the Rhine. Upon his return to [[St. Petersburg]], he was appointed chief of the Main Staff (1815) and director of the Military-Topographic Depot (1816–1823). He was promoted to [[general|general of infantry]] (December 12, 1817). Together with Count (later [[Prince|Prince of the Most Serene]] and [[List of Russian field marshals|Field Marshal]]) [[Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov|M. S. Vorontsov]], he was awarded the [[Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath|Grand Cross of the English Order of the Bath]] (1819). He became a member of the State Council (June 5, 1821).

He was a close friend and patron of his brother-in-law S. G. Volkonsky. He was evidently aware of some plans of the members of the Southern Society. He supported the budget for the 2nd army prepared by [[A. P. Yushnevsky]], which significantly exceeded its actual needs (early 1823). Due to a conflict with [[Aleksey Arakcheyev|A. A. Arakcheev]] regarding this budget, he was dismissed from his position as [[Chief of staff|chief of the Main Staff]] (April 25, 1823) and went on an overseas leave. He was a [[Order of St Andrew|knight of the Order of St. Andrew]] the First-Called (December 12, 1823). He returned to St. Petersburg (1824) and served with [[Alexander I of Russia|Alexander I]]

He was an Ambassador to the [[Coronation of Charles X|Coronation in Reims]] of [[Charles X of France]] in 1825. Afterwards, he was [[Ministry of the Imperial Court|Minister of Imperial Court and Properties]] between 1826 and 1852.

==Legacy==
The mineral [[volkonskoite]] was named in honor of him in 1831.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kämmerer |first1=A. |title=Mittheilungen an den Geheimen Rath v. Leonhard gerichtet |journal=Jahrbuch für Mineralogie, Geognosie, Geologie und Petrefaktenkunde |date=1831 |volume=2 |page=420}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Volkonskoite |url=https://www.mindat.org/min-4201.html |website=MinDat |access-date=27 October 2021}}</ref>

==References==
{{more footnotes needed|date=July 2017}}
{{Reflist|30em}}
* {{cite book| author =  | chapter = Кн. Волконский 1. Пётр Михайлович| chapter-url = https://vivaldi.nlr.ru/bx000010275/view#page=28| format = | url =  | title = [[Список генералам по старшинству]]. Исправлено по 17-е марта | orig-year = | agency =  | edition =   |location= СПб. |date = 1844 |publisher= Военная типография |volume=  | pages = 7–8| series =  | isbn = }}
* {{ВТ-ЭСБЕ|Волконский, Петр Михайлович}}
* [http://memoirs.ru/texts/Volkonski.htm Рассказы князя П. М. Волконского, записанные с его слов А. В. Висковатовым в январе 1845 г.] / Публ. К. А. Висковатова // [[Русская старина]], 1876. — Т. 16. — No. 5. — С. 176–190.
* [http://memoirs.ru/files/Volk_PZ_RA70_3.rar Письмо князя П. М. Волконского к А. А. Закревскому о кончине императора Александра Павловича] / Сообщ. А. Ф. Бычковым // [[Русский архив]], 1870. — Изд. 2-е. — М., 1871. — Стб. 627–630.
* {{cite book| author =  | chapter = Кн. Пётр Михайлович Святлейший| chapter-url = https://viewer.rusneb.ru/ru/rsl01002953435?page=443| format = | url =  | title = Потомство Рюрика: материалы для составления родословий | orig-year = | agency = сост. {{nobr|[[Г. А. Власьев]]}} | edition =   |location= СПб. |date = 1907 |publisher= Т-во {{nobr|Р. Голике}} и {{nobr|А. Вильборг}} |volume= 1: Князья черниговские, Ч. 3 | pages = 435–436| series =  | isbn = | ref = Власьев}}
* {{cite book| author =  | chapter = Пётр Михайлович| chapter-url = https://viewer.rusneb.ru/ru/rsl01003647058?page=719| format = | url =  | title = Род князей Волконских | orig-year = | agency = Материалы, собранные и обработанные кн. {{nobr|[[Волконская, Елизавета Григорьевна|Е. Г. Волконской]]}} | edition =   |location= СПб. |date = 1900 |publisher= Типография {{nobr|М. М. Стасюлевича}} |volume=  | pages = 708–712| series =  | isbn = | ref = Волконская}}

==External links==
*{{in lang|ru}} [http://www.russia-today.narod.ru/past/gen/volkonsk_pm.htm The ancestors and descendants Serene Highness Prince Pyotr Mikhailovich Volkonsky]

==Notes==
* Almagro (1843) notice sur le familles principales de la Russie

{{Chiefs of the Russian General Staff}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Volkonsky, Pyotr Mikhailovich}}
[[Category:1776 births]]
[[Category:1852 deaths]]
[[Category:Volkonsky family|Pyotr Mikhailovich]]
[[Category:Russian commanders of the Napoleonic Wars]]
[[Category:Field marshals of the Russian Empire]]
[[Category:Members of the State Council (Russian Empire)]]
[[Category:Cabinet ministers of the Russian Empire]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Saint Petersburg]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of St. George of the Third Degree]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of St. Vladimir, 1st class]]
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[[Category:Grand Crosses of the Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary]]
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[[Category:Recipients of the Order of the Netherlands Lion]]
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