Today we are remembering General Mikhail Miloradovich – a real hero and an extremely kind man. Of Serbian extraction, he was a scion of a family who had served Russia in good faith since the times of Czar Peter the Great.  Wide-shouldered with a shock of curly hair, puffing on his long pipe and, with a good joke, he would raise his men into attack. Emerging unharmed from more than 200 battles, Miloradovich died at the hands of a compatriot thus becoming the first victim of revolutionary terror in Russia. It happened on December 14, 1825…

Mikhail Miloradovich traced his ancestry back to an old noble family in Herzegovina. Responding to a call by Peter the Great to crush the Turks, one of his forefathers put together a small army and carried out several successful expeditions. After Czar Peter’s march on Constantinople fell through, Miloradovich, along with his family, officers and the remaining force of just 148 soldiers, was forced to emigrate to Russia.  His great grandson, Mikhail, was born in 1771. Growing up he was sent out to study in Germany only to see his education cut short by military service. The first battle he fought at 17 sealed the future life of the would-be General. Taking part in the Italian campaign led by the legendary Russian Generalissimo Alexander Suvorov, Miloradovich earned much distinction as a commander of  advanced troops and his selfless courage and  loving care for his soldiers quickly made him the darling of the whole army. 

In 1805 Russia entered a period of wars that lasted for a whole decade. During the battle of Krems, Miloradovich, already a Brigadier under General Mikhail Kutuzov, spearheaded a frontal attack. The fierce fighting continued all day long and effectively thwarted Napoleon’s plans to encircle the Russians and severely decimating Marshal Mortier’s corps. For that feat Miloradovich was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General. “Here’s a General who has earned his rank with his bayonet!”  Emperor Alexander I once said. Always a dandy, Miloradovich dressed up for each battle. His plume rising up to the sky and medals shining on his chest, he seemed to have no fear of danger. Unperturbed by the bullets whizzing all around him - sometimes they killed the horse he was so elegantly riding across the battlefield as it were his own park -  Miloradovich kept puffing on his pipe, changing horses and fixing the medals on his chest,  leading  his troops charge against the enemy. Another daredevil, General Alexei Yermolov once told Miloradovich, “In order to always be by Your Excellency’s side, one’s got to have more than one life…” During battle of the Borodino, when the Russian Army under Field-Marshal Mikhail Kutuzov engaged the French Army under Napoleon on September 7th, 1812, Mikhail Miloradovich commanded three infantry corps and successfully beat back all enemy attacks.  After the battle was over he led the Russian rear-guard covering the troops’ retreat. His regiments fought for 26 straight days with some battles raging for 10 and more hours. During one such battle someone told Miloradovich that Marshal Murat was drinking champagne in front of his troops and under strong Russian fire to boot. Rattled by the news, Miloradovich ordered his men to put out a table right ahead of the Russian outposts and took his time sipping wine and enjoying a hearty three-course dinner. 

Once Russian troops encircled a 600-man-strong French detachment. The French said they would only surrender to Miloradovich and that if he was not around, they would keep fighting to the bitter end. “Long live General Miloradovich!” they cried. Miloradovich cared for the French prisoners of war just as he did for his own soldiers, handing out bread and money.  Once they picked up two French toddlers crying their hearts out near their mother’s dead body. Miloradovich ordered the kids to be taken out of the line of fire and took them under his personal care. The children spent the night praying, remembering their loved ones and kissing the general’s hands. Happily, just a few days later, they found among the French prisoners the father of the two kids saved by the bighearted Russian General…

The war over, Mikhail Miloradovich was appointed Governor General of St.Petersburg. On December 14, 1825 he went to pacify the Decembrist officers at the Senate Square. Eager to prevent bloodshed, Miloradovich asked the mutineers whether any one of them had ever fought with him in the war. Embarrassed, the rebels kept silent. Being popular with the army Miloradovich almost succeeded in his exhortations to the officers when one of the more radical rebels, Pyotr Kakhovsky aimed his pistol at Miloradovich and fired. Fatally wounded, the General stooped over and toppled over into the snow. He was rushed home. When, shortly after, the new Emperor Nicholas I sent Prince of Wuertemberg to see him, Miloradovich gave the Prince a friendly nod. The Prince tried to cheer him up but Miloradovich gently cut him sort saying, “You see I’m dying just as I lined, with a clean conscience. See you in the better world…” Three hours later he was dead… When, months later, they were executing the Decembrists, none of them agreed to shake Kakhovsky’s hand…