Gotthard August von Helffreich
Command Ratings
Gotthard August von Helffreich was a Baltic German officer in Imperial Russian service whose name appears in Russian sources as Bogdan Borisovich Gel’freikh (Богдан Борисович Гельфрейх) and in German-language references as Gotthard August von Helffreich. He was born on 27 January 1776 at Purgel in the Estland Governorate and died on 24 November 1843 at Reval (Tallinn).
He entered the Imperial Russian Army in 1790 as a private in a Guard unit. By 1796 he had reached captain in the line infantry and was serving in the North Caucasus. He was promoted to lieutenant-colonel in 1804. In the wars against Napoleonic France he served in the Russian field army in East Prussia during the 1807 operations, being present in the fighting that culminated in the battles of Heilsberg (10 June 1807) and Friedland (14 June 1807), in which Russian forces under Bennigsen fought Napoleon’s army.
During the Patriotic War of 1812 and the campaigns of 1813–1814 his career is more fully recorded under the Russian form of his name, including as “Гельфрейх 1-й” in some biographical listings that distinguish him from other officers of similar surname. He distinguished himself in the fighting around Polotsk in October 1812, including the general battle and the assault that resulted in the capture of Polotsk on 5–7 October 1812, and was awarded the Order of St Vladimir, 2nd class. In mid-October 1812, commanding an advance guard in the corps of F. F. Steinheil, he took part in the pursuit of the retreating enemy from Orekhovo toward Kublichi and was credited with capturing eight guns, for which he received a pension award. After Steinheil’s junction with Wittgenstein he remained in the first line on the right wing, and during the subsequent movements he took part in actions at Chashniki and Smolyany. In November 1812 he assumed command of the 14th Infantry Division, replacing the sick I. T. Sazonov, and continued operations in the pursuit of Victor toward the Berezina. On 17 December 1812, at the head of his division, he crossed the Niemen into Prussia.
In the opening of the 1813 campaign he continued the pursuit of MacDonald’s corps and entered Elbing on 31 December 1812. He then took part in successive siege operations in Prussia and along the Oder line: the siege of Danzig from 13 January to 5 February 1813, the siege of Küstrin in February 1813, and the siege of Spandau in March 1813. On 11 April 1813, after joining Wittgenstein, he participated in repelling an attack by Eugène de Beauharnais. He fought at Lützen (20 April 1813), and the record of awards connected with that battle associates him with distinctions including the Prussian Order of the Red Eagle, 2nd class; he also participated in the battle of Bautzen (May 1813).
In August 1813 he fought at Kulm, where an account of his service credits a detachment under his command with taking the principal height in the Kulm positions and capturing 21 guns. At Leipzig he was wounded on 6 October 1813 (concussed by a cannonball to the left leg) and remained with his division. His senior promotion followed in the next campaign phase: he was promoted to генерал-лейтенант (lieutenant general) on 20 July 1814 with seniority dated from 6 October 1813, and he received the Austrian Order of Leopold, 2nd class. In the winter operations of 1813–1814 he took part in the blockade of Kehl (December 1813 to 5 January 1814) and fought at Mormant on 5 February 1814.
In addition to the Order of St Vladimir, 2nd class, his decorations listed in Russian biographical summaries include the Order of St George, 3rd class; the Order of St Anna, 1st class with diamonds; the Prussian Order of the Red Eagle, 2nd class; a gold sword “for bravery” with diamonds; and the cross “For the capture of Bazardzhik,” reflecting earlier Russo-Ottoman operations. He remained in service beyond the Napoleonic wars, with summaries giving a service span continuing to 1823, and died at Reval in 1843.
Sources
XX (GCV) 12 Russia; XX 13-14 Lutzen, Bautzen, Dresden, Leipzig, Paris