Ivan Sergeyevich Leontiev
Command Ratings
Ivan Sergeyevich Leontiev (Иван Сергеевич Леонтьев) was an Imperial Russian cavalry officer who reached the rank of генерал-майор (major general) during the wars against Napoleonic France. He was born on 2 March 1782 and died in August 1824 at Penza.
Leontiev entered service from the Corps of Pages and on 10 February 1799 was taken onto active service as a junior officer in the Лейб-гвардии Преображенский полк (Preobrazhensky Life Guards Regiment). In the War of the Third Coalition he campaigned with Russian forces in Central Europe and fought at Austerlitz on 2 December 1805, where he was wounded; for his conduct in that battle he received a gold weapon awarded “for bravery” (the gold sword). He continued in cavalry service through the subsequent coalition wars, remaining in line regimental duty rather than moving into a long-term chancery or court appointment.
During the French invasion of Russia (1812) he served with the field army and was present at Borodino on 7 September 1812. For Borodino he was awarded the Order of St George, 4th class. In the closing phase of the 1812 campaign, on 29 December 1812, he was promoted to генерал-майор (major general) and appointed шеф (chef/proprietor) of the Глуховский кирасирский полк (Glukhov Cuirassier Regiment), a heavy cavalry regiment of the Russian Army. That promotion placed him among the many newly elevated combat officers who had survived the principal battles of 1812 and were needed to lead the rapidly expanding cavalry arm for the coming operations beyond Russia’s borders.
In the foreign campaigns of 1813–1814 Leontiev served with the Russian heavy cavalry in Germany, attached to the 2nd Cuirassier Division; he commanded the 1st Brigade of that division after his elevation to general officer rank. In 1813 he fought at Lützen (2 May 1813) and Bautzen (20–21 May 1813) in the opening battles of the spring campaign, in which Allied cavalry was heavily engaged in covering movements, counter-attacks, and rear-guard actions. He was again wounded during the 1813 operations. His decorations listed in compiled service summaries from this period include Russian orders (St Vladimir and St Anna) and foreign awards received in the Allied coalition, as well as the Kulm Cross associated with the 1813 fighting in Bohemia.
After the main Napoleonic wars he continued in active cavalry command. In the early 1820s he is recorded performing higher divisional duties in hussar formations, and on 15 February 1823 he was appointed commander of the 2nd Hussar Division. He died suddenly during manoeuvres at Penza in August 1824 (often recorded as 10 August 1824 in Russian-language references). His burial was at the cemetery of the Transfiguration Monastery at Penza, though later notices state the grave did not survive.
Sources
X 13 Lutzen, Bautzen