Vasily Alekseevich Perovsky

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

General-adjutant Count V.A. Perovsky. Painting by Karl Briulov (1837)

Count Vasily Alekseevich Perovsky (1794-1857) was a Russian general and statesman.

After studying in Moscow University, he joined the emperor's retinue in 1811. When retreating toward Moscow after the Battle of Borodino, he was taken prisoner by the French, and remained in caprivity until the fall of Paris in 1814.

He was heavily wounded in the 1828 war with Turkey.

In 1833 he was appointed the military governor of Orenburg. In 1839, he led an invasion of the Khanate of Khiva, in name to free the slaves captured and sold by Turkmen raiders from the Russian frontiers on the Caspian Sea, but also as an attempt to extend the Russian borders while the British Empire entangled itself in the First Anglo-Afghan War in 1839. Perovsky's expeditionary force consisted of 5,200 infantry, and 10,000 camels. Due to poor planning and a bit of bad luck, they set off in November 1839, into one of the worst winters in memory, and were forced to turn back on 1 February 1840. The expeditionary force arrived back into Orenburg in May, having suffered over 1,000 casualties without firing a single shot.

In 1842, Perovsky left the Orenburg governor's position, but was brought back to that office in 1851. This time, his campaigning in the central Asia (today's central Kazakhstan) against the Khanates of Khiva and Kokand was much more successful. After the successful taking of the Kokand fortress of Ak-Mechet by his troops in 1853, the fort was renamed Fort-Perovsky after him. His military successes forced the Khanate of Khiva to sign the 1854 treaty with the Russia Empire beneficial for the latter.

For his achievements, he was made a count in 1855.