Barclay de Tolly, Mikhail (1761-1818)

Russian commander in the Napoleonic Wars and in the Russian annexation of Finland. In the latter campaign (1808-09), he won fame for his daring march across the frozen Gulf of Bothnia to capture the Swedish town of Umeå. Appointed Minister of War (1810-13), he and Bagration commanded the two armies that opposed Napoleon's invasion of Russia in 1812. He was briefly superseded by Mikhail Kutuzov after the defeat at Smolensk, but regained command for the final battles in 1813-14 that signalled the end of Napoleon's empire.

Barclay de Tolly was born in Livonia (modern Latvia and Estonia), where his family, of Scots origin, had first settled in the 17th century. He joined the army and distinguished himself in campaigns against the Ottoman Empire (1788), Sweden (1790), and Poland (1794). As a major-general, he fought the French at the battles of Pultusk and Eylau (1806), where he lost an arm. He was made a field marshal in 1814 and was ennobled for his services in 1815.