Mikhail Bogdanovich Barclay de Tolly

Prince

Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly (Михаи́л Богда́нович Баркла́й-де-То́лли) was born in a German-Baltic family of Scottish origin living in Riga [currently in Latvia] since the 17th century. The exact date and place of his birth remain debated. Regarding the date, the most frequently cited is December 27, 1761 but it seems that it is in fact that of his baptism.

He became a Russian General then Field Marshal, and figured prominently in the Napoleonic Wars: campaign in Poland and East Prussia in 1806, French invasion of Russia in 1812, campaign in Germany in 1813, campaign in northeast France in 1814.

He died on May 26, 1818 at Shtilitzen Castle [Zhilyaitshen], about six kilometers from the city of Insterburg [Chernyakhovsk, Kaliningrad oblast], in East Prussia.