By Lina Zeldovich
 |
| Александр Васильевич Суворов |
Said to be one of the few commanders in history who never
lost a battle, Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov (Александр Васильевич Суворов) had
waged wars on nearly every nation that shared borders with the Russian
empire. From Turks to Prussians and from
Swedes to French, Suvorov had a spectacular and surprisingly long military
career for someone who spent his life on the frontline.
No one in his family expected little Sasha Suvorov to become
a soldier. A sickly child who spent much
of his time in bed, Alexander was deemed unfit for a military career by his
father. Vasiliy Suvorov, a senator and a
general-in-chief, knew the army reality all too well, and didn’t think his
frail offspring could withstand the hardship. But, captivated by the battle
strategies and tactics, Sasha devoted his time to studying the works of renowned
historians and military figures – from Plutarch to Cornelius Nepos to Julius
Caesar. Determined to join the army
despite his ailments and his father, he put himself through vigorous exercise
to improve his health and his strength.
When Sasha was 12, he met General Hannibal, a Russian
military commander most known for being a great-grandfather of Alexander
Pushkin, the famous poet. Taken by the young lad, who, in addition to his
fascination with martial arts also spoke French, German, Italian, and Polish,
Hannibal convinced Suvorov senior to let his unwavering offspring pursue his
passion.
And true passion it was. Alexander Suvorov spent more than
50 years of his life on the battlefield. He made a colonel by 33, a general-major before turning 40, and a field
marshal a few years later. He led the Russian troops through many a battles in
their war with the Ottoman Empire, took part in the famous siege of Ochakov,
and won a great victory in a clash at the river Rymnik, for which Catherine the
Great bestowed on him the title of Count Rymniksky. In terms of awards and
insignia, Suvorov earned pounds of medals and a slew of regalia–from Military
Order of Empress Maria Theresa to Alexander Nevsky, and a couple of pages worth
of titles: Count of Rymnik, Prince of Sardinia and even Count of the Holy Roman
Empire. His last title, which he earned at the age of 70, was generalissimo,
the highest military rank possible.
In between marches and sieges, Suvorov penned The Science of Victory, a manual on how
to do it right, in style and with flare, which has been used as the holy bible of
combat stratagem by a few generations of militants. He coined a few famous
sayings venerably recited by Russians to this day, literally and figuratively:
"What’s tough in training is easy in a battle" and "Perish
yourself but rescue your comrade!"
Alas, at the end of his career, Suvorov fell out of favor with
the royals: Catherine the Great’s son Paul I took offence at the warrior’s
sharp tongue. After a few years of forced
retirement, Suvorov was called to lead the troops against Napoleon but despite
his burning wish never met him in a battle. He is, however, famous for crossing
the Alps in winter, a maneuver historically achieved only by Hannibal. Alas,
the move was not to wage a spectacular attack on the French but to save the greatly
outnumbered Russian troops. Still, that was the maneuver that netted Suvorov
his title of the fourth generalissimo of Russia, only days before his death. He
never rested on his hard-earned laurels–Tsar Paul, true to his dislike of the
old soldier, skipped the ceremony. (Vasily Surikov later painted the legendary Suvorov’s Troops Crossing the Alps, now in the Tretyakov Museum in
Moscow.)
Warrior’s luck wasn’t as favorable to Suvorov's son,
Arkadiy, who followed his father’s footsteps into the military stardom.
Fighting the Turks where the undefeated patriarch did twenty years earlier, he
drowned in the very river Rymnik that had brought his father so much fame.
