Nikolay Ivanovich Demidov Explained

Nikolay Ivanovich Demidov
Birth Date:19 April 1773
Branch:Imperial Russian Army
Serviceyears:1790–1833
Rank:General of the Infantry
Commands:21st Infantry Division
1st Grenadier Division
Battles:French invasion of Russia
Finnish War
Russo-Turkish War (1828–29)
Awards:Order of St. George, 3rd class (1808)
Order of St. Vladimir, 3rd class (1808)
Order of St. Alexander Nevsky

Nikolay Ivanovich Demidov (19 August 1773 – 4 June 1833) was a Russian General of Infantry, Adjutant-General and senator.

Life

From a noble family in Ryazan province, he was the son of Brigadier Ivan Ivanovich Demidov. As was the custom of the time his birth was recorded with the Preobrazhensky Lifeguard regiment and three years later promoted to Sergeant. He entered active service on 1 January 1790, rising to captain in 1798 and colonel in 1799. In 1803 he was made a major general and placed in the Izmaylovsky Regiment before being made head of the Petrovsky Infantry Regiment on May 16, with which he marched into Prussia during the Franco-Russian War early in 1807, though he did not participate in hostilities. Also in 1807 he formed the Libavskogo Infantry Regiment. In 1808 he joined the Russian army sent to the Finnish War, where he was put in charge of 2 infantry battalions and 200 Cossacks to besiege Vaasa.