Nikolai Petrovich Lebedev

Nikolai Petrovich Lebedev (1750 — 25 December 1812 [O.S.] / 6 January 1813 [N.S.], Kaluga) was an officer of the Imperial Russian Army who rose to general-leytenant (1799). In later service he held senior provincial appointments in Siberia, and in 1812 commanded the Smolensk opolchenie during the Patriotic War.

Lebedev was born in Roslavl district (Smolensk province). He entered service as a child by enrolment (1756), transferred into line infantry, and by the early 1760s held junior officer rank. In the 1760s–1770s he saw field service in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth against confederate forces and later on the Danubian theatre in the Russo–Turkish War, receiving stepwise promotion through company-grade ranks.

From the 1780s into the early 1790s, Lebedev served for extended periods on the Caucasian frontier, taking part in operations along the Kavkazskaya liniya (including expeditions beyond the Kuban and punitive raids against mountain peoples), and he was wounded during this cycle of campaigning. He also participated in actions connected with Anapa during the Russo–Turkish War of 1787–1791.

Promoted to Colonel in 1796, Lebedev held important command and administrative posts on Russia’s southeastern frontier. In December 1797 he became a Major general and was appointed commandant of Orenburg and shef of a garrison regiment; subsequent service included frontier-security operations and work with the Orenburg Border Commission. In 1799 he was promoted to general-leytenant and transferred to Siberia as Irkutsk military governor and head of the local garrison establishment; he also served as governor of Irkutsk province in 1802–1803. Ill health led to retirement (1807), after which he lived on his Smolensk estate.

With the formation of provincial militias in 1812, Lebedev was selected to command the Smolensk opolchenie. He took part in the defense of Smolensk in August 1812 and subsequently led militia formations at Borodino and Maloyaroslavets. After Maloyaroslavets he became seriously ill, was evacuated to Kaluga, and died there shortly thereafter. Contemporary-service summaries record his award of the Order of St Anne (1st class) with diamond insignia for 1812 service, and note that he was presented for the Order of St Vladimir (2nd class) but did not live to receive it.

Sources

• Wikipedia (Russian): “Лебедев, Николай Петрович”
• 1812.ru / BRDN: “Лебедев Николай Петрович”
• Wikimedia Commons: “Nikolay Petrovitch Lebedev … Irkutsk museum”
• Smolensk Necropolis: “Лебедев Николай Петрович”
• Orenburg Regional Library (1812 resource): “Лебедев”