The master of the secret police and the slave of someone else's wife. Count Benckendorff, favorite of Tsar Nicholas, unfaithful husband and incorrigible romantic

General of the cavalry, senator, member of the Council of State; eldest son of Khristian Ivanovich, b. in 1783, d. September 23, 1844. He began his service in the 15th year (1798), joining the non-commissioned officer in the life guards. Semyonovsky regiment, where in the same year on December 31 he was promoted to ensign, with the appointment of an adjutant wing to Emperor Paul. In 1803, he entered the detachment of Prince Tsitsianov operating in Georgia and participated with honors in the capture of the outpost of the Ganji fortress and on January 1 of the following year - in the battle with the Lezgins; for the courage shown in these cases, he was awarded the Order of St. Anna and St. Vladimir 4th class. In 1804, he was sent to the island of Corfu, where he formed, under the command of General Anrep, a legion of 600 Souliotes and 400 Albanians. In the war with the French 1806-1807. Benckendorff, being under the duty of General Count Tolstoy, participated in the battle of Preussisch-Eylau, for which he was awarded the Order of St. Anna 2 step. and the rank of captain, and after 2 weeks he was promoted to colonel. At the conclusion of the Tilsit peace, he was at the embassy of Count Tolstoy in Paris. In 1809, Benckendorff went as a hunter to the army operating against the Turks and, being in the forefront throughout the campaign, he always became at the head of the most risky and difficult assignments. A special distinction that brought Benckendorff the Order of St. George 4 step., were his actions near Ruschuk, where, with a swift attack of the Chuguev lancers, he overturned a significant detachment of Turks that threatened the rear of our left flank. In 1812, Benckendorff commanded the vanguard of the troops of General Vinzengerode and in the first battle of Velizh (July 27), for a brilliant attack against the enemy, he was promoted to major general. Following that, a dangerous assignment was assigned to him - to open the communications of the main army with the corps of Count Wittgenstein. Departing with 80 Cossacks, Benkendorf managed to capture more than 500 prisoners, passing in the rear and between the detachments of the French troops. With the beginning of the retreat of our forces, Benkendorf took command of the rearguard in the detachment of General Vinzengerode, and from Zvenigorod to Spassk he commanded the entire detachment. Attaching two Cossack regiments to his forces, he made a bold and skillful movement towards Volokolamsk, attacked the enemy parties, defeated them and captured more than 8,000 people. Consisting on the occupation of Moscow as the commandant of the capital, he managed to capture 3,000 Frenchmen and beat off 30 guns; while pursuing the Napoleonic army to the Neman, while in the detachment of Lieutenant General Kutuzov, he captured three French generals and more than 6,000 different ranks. In 1813, Benckendorff was entrusted with a separate flying detachment. Acting between Berlin and Frankfurt on the Oder, he defeated a strong enemy party in Tempelberg, for which he received the Order of St. George 3 step., After that, he forced the surrender of the city of Furstenwald, occupied Berlin, together with detachments of generals, Chernyshev and Tetenborn, and, constantly fighting from Ueterbock to Dresden, captured up to 6,000 Frenchmen. From Dresden, stopped by the corps of Marshal Davout, he retreated to Havelsberg, crossed the Elbe and captured the enemy post in Verbena. The occupation of Lüneburg, under the command of General Dernberg, brought Benckendorff the Order of St. Anna 1st class. His further actions in the campaign were marked by participation in the battle of Grosberen, the pursuit and ousting of the French troops from Yuterbock, and the three-day cover of the corps of Count Vorontsov against enemy movements. The last feat brought him a golden sword with diamonds. In the battle of Leipzig, he commanded the left wing of the Vincengorod corps, after which, when the latter moved to Kassel, he was sent to Holland with a separate detachment. Here, in the shortest possible time, Benckendorff managed to clear Utrecht and Amsterdam from the enemy, forced the fortresses of Havel, Münden and the Gelder battery to surrender and occupied Rotterdam, Dortrecht, Gosuvot, the fortresses of Gertrudenberg, Breda, Wilhelmstadt, taking more than a hundred guns and many prisoners. Following that, Benckendorff rushed to Belgium and occupied the cities of Leuven and Mecheln from the battle, and in Düsseldorf again joined Vincengorod. These exploits brought Benckendorff orders: St. Vladimir 2nd class, a large cross of the Swedish Sword and Prussian - "Pour le mérite", from the Dutch king a sword with the inscription "Amsterdam and Breda" and from the British regent - a golden saber with the inscription "for the exploits of 1813". In 1814, while crossing the Rhine, Benckendorff participated in the battle of Craon, where he commanded the entire cavalry of the corps of Count Vorontsov and then in the battles of Laon and Saint-Dizier, after which he commanded the rearguard of the corps when moving it to Chalons. Awarded with diamond badges of the Order of St. Anna of the 1st degree, Benckendorff returned to Russia and here on April 9, 1816 he was appointed head of the 2nd Dragoon Division, and in 1819 - chief of staff of the Guards Corps. On July 22 of the same year, he was awarded the rank of adjutant general, on September 20, 1821 he was promoted to lieutenant general and on December 1 he was appointed head of the 1st cuirassier division. In the same year, Benckendorff submitted to Alexander Pavlovich a detailed memorandum, in which he detailed and with great knowledge of the matter outlined the information he had collected, on his own initiative, about the organization, goals and composition of the secret "Union of Welfare". Pointing out the main figures of this alliance, Benckendorff spoke out for the need now, while the evil has not yet grown, to put a limit to it, eliminating the main distributors of bold plans. The emperor considered it good to leave Benckendorff's report without consequences, but the events that took place four years later proved Benckendorff's foresight, and the new Sovereign, on July 25, 1826, appointed him to the post of chief of gendarmes, commander of the Imperial Main Apartment and chief commander of the III Department of His Own Imperial Majesty's Chancellery, and on December 6 he was granted the rank of senator. In 1828, he accompanied the Sovereign in the Turkish campaign and was at the siege of Brailov, at the crossing of the Danube, in the battle near Satunov, during the conquest of Isakcha, in the battle at Shumla, where he commanded two squares that made up the cover of the Sovereign's Person and then during the siege and capture Fortress of Varna. At the end of the campaign, he was awarded the Order of St. Vladimir of the 1st degree, Benckendorff on April 21, 1829 was promoted to general from the cavalry, and on February 8 he was appointed a member of the State Council; On November 10, 1832, Benckendorff was elevated to the dignity of a count of the Russian Empire and on April 22, 1834 he was awarded the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called. Since 1828, Benckendorff has repeatedly accompanied Emperor Nikolai Pavlovich on his travels in Russia, Warsaw and abroad; in 1841 he was sent to Livonia to pacify the unrest that took place there among the peasants, and in 1842 - to Riga, to be present at the opening of noble meetings on the resolution of rules regarding the peasants. - Count Benckendorff was married to Elizaveta Andreevna Zakharzhevskaya (in her first marriage to P. G. Bibikov, from December 12, 1824, a cavalry lady of the Order of St. Catherine, from March 25, 1839 - a lady of state, died in January 1858), but no male children had, and the title of count was transferred to his nephew, Konstantin Konstantinovich Benkendorf. The personality of Count A. Kh. Benckendorff is especially remembered by Russia and the St. Petersburg society for his activities in the rank of chief of gendarmes and chief commander of the III Section. Some of his contemporaries associated stories about the severity of the former head of the detective unit with the memory of him, but the number of defenders of the good name of Benckendorff and his philanthropy was always much more significant. The best assessment of his activities are the words of Emperor Nikolai Pavlovich, expressed by him at the bedside of the dying count: "For 11 years, he did not quarrel with anyone, but reconciled with many." By the way, the Sovereign A. S. Pushkin was entrusted to Benckendorff's closest cares, who, however, bitterly complained about this guardianship. - Count A. X. Benckendorff left notes, an excerpt from which was published in the "Russian Archive" in 1865 (No. 2); he also wrote the articles published in the Military Journal of the Guards Headquarters: "Description of the military operations of the detachment under the command of Baron Vinzengerode in 1812." and "Actions of Major General Benckendorff's Detachment in Holland".

K. Borozdin, "The experience of the historical genealogy of the nobles and counts of Benkendorf". - Service records kept in the Senate and State Council. - "Russian Invalid" 1823 No. 196; 1837 No. 308. - "Severn. Bee" 1844 No. 218. - "Father's Notes" 1824, part XX, p. vol. IX, p. 98; XVIII, p. 373; XX, pp. 335, 436. - "Istor. Vestn." 1887 vol. XXX p. 165 in the last. - "Rus. Star." 1871 vol. III, 1874 vols. IX and X, 1881 vol. XXXI. - "Rus. Arch." 1866, 1872, 1874 - "Readings of the Imperial History and Ancient Rus." 1871, vol. I, pp. 197-199). - Schilder, "Imp. Alexander I". - "The experience of the Bible for military people" by V. Sots. SPb. 1826 2nd ed. p. 352. - Dictionaries: Starchevsky, Zeddeler, Berezin, Gennadi, Andreevsky and Leer.

(Polovtsov)

Benckendorff, Count Alexander Khristoforovich

(born in 1783, † in 1844) - in 1798 he was promoted to ensign of the Life Guards. Semyonovsky regiment with the appointment of an aide-de-camp to Emperor Paul; in the war of 1806-1807. was with the duty general gr. Tolstoy and participated in many battles; in 1809 he went as a hunter to the army operating against the Turks, and was often in the vanguard or commanded separate detachments; in the battle of Ruschuk on June 20, 1811, he was awarded the Order of St. George 4th degree. During the Patriotic War of 1812, B. first commanded the vanguard of the detachment of Baron Vinzengerode; On July 27, he made a brilliant attack in the case at Velizh, and after Napoleon left Moscow and took her Russian. troops was appointed commandant of the capital. When pursuing the enemy, he was in the detachment of Lieutenant General Kutuzov, was in various affairs and captured 3 generals and more than 6,000 lower ranks. In the campaign of 1813, B. commanded a flying detachment, defeated the French at Tempelberg (for which he received the Order of St. George 3rd class), forced the enemy to surrender the city of Furstenwald and, together with the detachment of Chernyshev and Tetenborn, invaded Berlin. Crossing the Elbe, B. took the city of Vorben and, being under the command of the gene. Dornberg, contributed to the defeat of Moran's division in Lüneburg. Then, being with his detachment in the Northern Army, he participated in the battles of Gros-Veren and Dennewitz. Entering under the command of Mr. Vorontsov, he covered the movement of the army to Dessau and Roslau for 3 days in a row with one of his detachments and was awarded for this a gold saber adorned with diamonds. In the battle of Leipzig B. commanded the left wing of the bar cavalry. Vinzengerode, and during the movement of this general to Kassel he was the head of his vanguard. Then, with a separate detachment, he was sent to Holland and cleared it of the enemy. Replaced there by Prussian and English troops, B. moved to Belgium, took the cities of Louvain and Mecheln and recaptured 24 guns and 600 British prisoners from the French. In the campaign of 1814, B. especially distinguished himself in the case near Luttich; in the battle of Krasnoe he commanded the entire cavalry of gr. Vorontsov, and then covered the movement of the Silesian army to Laon; under Saint-Dizier, he commanded first the left wing, and then the rearguard. Emperor Nikolai, who was very disposed towards B., appointed him in 1826 chief of the gendarmes, commander of the Imperial main apartment and head of the III department of his own military unit. office. In 1828, at the departure of the sovereign to the army in Turkey, B. accompanied him; was at the siege of Brailov, the crossing of the Russian army across the Danube, the conquest of Isakcha, in the battle of Shumla and at the siege of Varna; in 1829 he was promoted to general of the cavalry, and in 1832 elevated to the rank of count.

(Brockhaus)

Benckendorff, Count Alexander Khristoforovich

From 1826 to 1844 he was the chief of the gendarmes and the head of the III Own E.V. Office of the department, in which the affairs of the police and political investigation were concentrated. Although B. considered his task "the establishment of the well-being and tranquility of all classes in Russia and the restoration of justice," his institution caused, as you know, fear and distrust in society. However, in relation to the Jews, he did not show any severity at all; observing, as a member of the Jewish Committee (established in 1840 to transform the way of life of the Jews), the activities of Hasidic and Orthodox circles, so that they do not excite the population against educational reforms, B. did not take harsh measures against them; and in 1844, taking advantage of his position, he rendered a great service to the Jewish Mstislav society, which was subjected to severe punishment as a result of the announcement of the governor Engelhard about the resistance of the Jews to the military detachment; through his agents, B. achieved the truth, and the matter ended (already after B.'s death) with the justification of the Jews and the removal of the governor. See Mstislav rampage. - Cf .: S. Dubnov, "From the chronicle of the Mstislav community", "Sunrise", 1899, book. IX; archival materials.

(Heb. enc.)

Benckendorff, Count Alexander Khristoforovich

Adjutant General, b. in 1783, the service of B. sharply splits into 2 periods: specifically military and court-administrative. In 1803 B., sent to Georgia, to Prince. Tsitsianov, participated in the capture of the fortress. Ganji and in affairs with Lezgins. In the war of 1806-07. B. participated in the battle of Preisisch-Eylau, and then took part in the war with Turkey and in the battle of Ruschuk on June 22, 1811, at the head of Chuguevsk. st. p. rushed at the enemy, who bypassed our flank, and overturned him; for this feat B. was awarded the horde. St. George 4th class. In the wars of 1812-14. B. showed outstanding qualities of a fighting kaval. general. Commanding the vanguard in the Vinzengerode detachment, B. participated in the battle of Velizh, and then established contact with the chief with 80 Cossacks. of our forces with Wittgenstein's corps and made a bold and skillful movement to Volokolamsk, attacking the enemy and capturing more than 8 thousand people. On the return occupation of Moscow, being appointed its commandant, he captured 3 thousand Frenchmen and recaptured 30 guns. During the persecution of the French army to the Neman was in the detachment of Adjutant General Kutuzov and captured more than 6 thousand people. and 3 generals. In 1813, Mr.. B. received command separately. volatile the detachment with which in Tempelberg defeated the enemy party and captured 48 of. and 750 lower. rank., for which he was awarded the horde. St. George 3rd class. Having forced the surrender of the city of Furstenwalde, B. crossed the Elbe at Havelberg, took Verben and occupied Lüneburg. For a three-day cover by his detachment of the corps gr. Vorontsova B. received. gold. with brill. sword. In the battle of Leipzig B. commanded a lion. wing of the Winzengerode corps, and after it was sent with a separate detachment to Holland, where he quickly cleared Utrecht and Amsterdam from the enemy and took a number of fortresses and more than a hundred guns. On liberation from the enemy of Holland, B. moved to Belgium, occupied Leuven and Mecheln. In the battle near Craon, B. commanded the entire cavalry, and at Saint-Dizier - a lion. wing. In 1816, Mr.. B. was appointed head of the 2nd drag. division, in 1819 - granted the adjutant general, in 1820 - appointed chief of staff of the Guards. corps, in 1821 - promoted to lieutenant general. and appointed head of the 1st Cuirassier. divisions. With the accession of Imp. Nicholas I, B.'s service activity changes, and from a military commander he turns into an administrative figure; from 1826 until his death in 1844, he was chief of the gendarmes and commander of the Imper. Main apartment, being one of the most trusted. and persons close to the Sovereign. B. left behind notes, of which only a small part has been printed so far ("Russian. Arch." 1865, No. 2). Peru owns articles in the "Military Journal": "Description of the military. actions of the detachment under the command of General Winzengerode in 1812" (1827, III) and "Actions of the detachment of Major General Benckendorff in Holland" (1827, VI).

(Military Enc.)

Benckendorff, Count Alexander Khristoforovich

adjutant general, member of the State. council, chief of gendarmes; R. 1783, † 11 Sept. 1844 Left notes.

(Polovtsov)

Benckendorff, Count Alexander Khristoforovich

(1783-1844) - one of the main collaborators of Nicholas I in his reactionary policy. Descended from Eastsee Germans. B. submitted to Alexander I a report on secret societies and a note on the secret police to monitor the mood of the minds, left by Alexander without consequences. With the accession of Nicholas, to whom B. was close before, he makes a quick career. On December 14, he commanded troops on Vasilyevsky Island, then took an active part in the investigation of the Decembrists and voluntarily attended the execution of five of them. Since 1826 B. - chief of the gendarmes and head of the Third Department. His energy is directed, ch. arr., to combat "free thoughts" in literature. So, B. was entrusted by Nicholas I with the censorship of Pushkin's writings. With his nit-picking, B. poisoned the last years of the great poet's life and indirectly was one of the culprits of his death. Through him passed all the cases concerning the smallest details of the life of the exiled Decembrists. The basic principle of B.: "Laws are written for subordinates, not for superiors." Another popular expression of B.: "The past of Russia is amazing, its present is more than magnificent; as for the future, it is higher than anything that the most ardent imagination can draw for itself," the so-called theory was formulated. "official nationality" created by the ruling circles in the Nikolaev era. B.'s police brutality was combined with outward softness and sentimental style of speech. Accompanying Nicholas I on all trips, B. enjoyed his exceptional love (during the serious illness of Benckendorff, Nicholas wept at his bedside). In the last years of his life, the position of B. was somewhat shaken.

Lit.: Lemke, M.K., Nikolaev gendarmes and literature of 1826-55, St. Petersburg, 1908.

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Benkendorf, Alexander Khristoforovich- Alexander Khristoforovich Benkendorf. BENKENDORF Alexander Khristoforovich (1781 or 1783 1844), one of the closest associates of Emperor Nicholas I, count (1832), cavalry general (1832). Since 1826, the chief of gendarmes and chief commander of the Third ... ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary

- (1781 or 1783 1844), count, chief of the gendarme corps and head of the III department, general. adjutant. In Jan. 1836 L. was returned 2nd edition. drama "Masquerade" with B.'s recommendations to change the end, where instead of "glorification of vice" "triumph ... ... Lermontov Encyclopedia

- (1781 or 1783 1844) count (1832), Russian statesman, cavalry general (1832). Participant in the suppression of the Decembrist uprising. Since 1826, the chief of gendarmes and the chief head of the Third Department ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

Count Alexander Khristoforovich Benkendorf

Portrait of A. Kh. Benckendorff in the uniform of the Life Guards of the Gendarmerie half-squadron (1840s), a copy of Yegor Botman from a painting by Franz Kruger (Museum of the Guards)

« The most faithful and unmistakable judgment of the public about the chief of the gendarmes will be at the time when he is gone.”, wrote Benckendorff about himself. But he could hardly even imagine how distant this time would be ...

The most famous of the gendarmes of Russia was the eldest of four children of the infantry general, the Riga civil governor in 1796-1799, Christopher Ivanovich Benckendorff and Baroness Anna Juliana Schelling von Kanstadt.

Father - Christopher Ivanovich Benkendorf (1749-1823) - General of Infantry, Riga military governor.

Portrait by V. L. Borovikovsky, 1796-97

His grandfather Johann-Michael Benkendorf, in Russian Ivan Ivanovich, was a lieutenant general and chief commandant of Revel. With him, who died in the rank of lieutenant general, the approach of the Benckendorffs to the Russian throne is connected. Catherine II after the death of Ivan Ivanovich in memory of the 25-year-old " impeccable service in the Russian army"made his widow Sofya Ivanovna, nee Levenshtern, the tutor of the Grand Dukes - Alexander and Konstantin Pavlovich. In this role, she stayed for less than four years, but this period was enough to play a big role in the fate and career of her future grandchildren.

Alexander was born on July 4 (June 23), 1783. (There is an opinion that this date can also fluctuate between 1781 and 1784. - Approx. Aut.) Thanks to the palace connections of his grandmother and mother, who came to Russia from Denmark in the retinue of the future Empress Maria Feodorovna, his career was arranged immediately.

Portrait of Maria Feodorovna, A. Roslin

At the age of 15, the young man was enrolled as a non-commissioned officer in the privileged Life Guards Semenovsky Regiment. His promotion to lieutenant also followed very quickly. And it was in this rank that he became the aide-de-camp of Paul I. Moreover, unlike many of his predecessors, who were pretty tormented by the unpredictable emperor, the young Benckendorff did not know such problems.

Although, it must be said, the favorable prospects associated with the honorary position of adjutant wing did not appeal to him. At the risk of causing the highest displeasure, in 1803 he asked to go to the Caucasus, and this did not even remotely resemble diplomatic voyages to Germany, Greece and the Mediterranean, where the emperor sent the young Benckendorff.

Lev Keel. Aide-de-camp of the light and heavy cavalry of the Russian troops of the era of the Napoleonic wars

The Caucasus, with its exhausting and bloody war with the highlanders, was a real test of personal courage and ability to lead people. Benckendorff passed it with dignity. For a horse attack during the assault on the Ganzha fortress, he was awarded the Orders of St. Anna and St. Vladimir, IV degree. In 1805, together with " flying squad»Cossacks, whom he commanded, Benckendorff defeated the advanced enemy posts at the fortress of Gamlyu.

Assault on Ganja

Caucasian battles were replaced by European ones. In the Prussian campaign of 1806-1807 for the Battle of Preussisch-Eylau, he was promoted to captain and then to colonel. Then followed the Russian-Turkish wars under the command of Ataman M.I. Platov, the most difficult battles at the crossing of the Danube, the capture of Silistria. In 1811, Benkendorf, at the head of two regiments, makes a desperate sortie from the Lovchi fortress to the Ruschuk fortress through enemy territory. This breakthrough earns him "George" IV degree.

In the first weeks of the Napoleonic invasion, Benckendorff commanded the vanguard of the detachment of Baron Vincengorod, on July 27, under his leadership, the detachment made a brilliant attack at Velizh. After the liberation from the enemy Moscow, Benckendorff was appointed commandant of the devastated capital. During the persecution of the Napoleonic army, he distinguished himself in many cases, captured three generals and more than 6,000 Napoleonic soldiers. In the campaign of 1813, becoming the head of the so-called "volatile"detachments, first defeated the French at Tempelberg, for which he was awarded" George» III degree, then forced the enemy to surrender Furstenwald. Soon he was already in Berlin with the detachment. For unparalleled courage shown during the three-day cover of the passage of Russian troops to Dessau and Roskau, he was awarded a golden saber with diamonds.

Battle of Leipzig (fragments), Alexander Sauerberg

Attack of the Cossack Life Guards near Leipzig

Further - a swift raid into Holland and the complete defeat of the enemy there, then Belgium - his detachment took the cities of Louvain and Mecheln, where 24 guns and 600 British prisoners were recaptured from the French. Then, in 1814, there was Lyuttikh, the battle near Krasnoe, where he commanded the entire cavalry of Count Vorontsov. Awards followed one after another - in addition to "George" III and IV degrees, also "Anna" I degree, "Vladimir", several foreign orders. He had three swords for bravery alone. He ended the war with the rank of major general.

Amsterdam in 1813 by Jan Willem Pinemann

Cossack outpost in Holland, 1813, Peter Gerardus van OS

Rest of the Cossacks at the gates of Amsterdam on the night of November 24, 1813, watercolor by Francois Joseph Pfeiffer

Cossacks on a country road near Bergen in North Holland, 1813, by Pieter Gerardus van OS

In March 1819, Benckendorff was appointed chief of staff of the Guards Corps.

The seemingly impeccable reputation of a warrior for the Fatherland, which put Alexander Khristoforovich among the most prominent military leaders, did not bring him, however, the glory among fellow citizens that accompanied people who went through the crucible of the Patriotic War. Benckendorff failed to resemble heroes either during his lifetime or after his death. His portrait in the famous gallery of heroes of 1812 causes undisguised surprise for many. But he was a brave soldier and an excellent military leader. Although there are many human destinies in history, in which one half of life, as it were, cancels the other. Benckendorff's life is a prime example of this.

Portrait of Alexander Khristoforovich Benckendorff by George Doe Military Gallery of the Winter Palace, State Hermitage Museum (St. Petersburg)

How did it all start? The formal reason for colleagues to look at Benkendorf from a different angle was a skirmish with the commander of the Preobrazhensky regiment, Karl Karlovich Pirkh. Concerned about the interest shown by the young guards in the revolutionary events taking place in Spain, Benckendorff ordered Pirchus to prepare a detailed memorandum on " dangerous conversations". He refused, saying that he did not want to be an informer. The Chief of the Guards Staff, in anger, put him out the door. The officers of the Preobrazhensky Regiment learned about what had happened, of course, who with might and main condemned Benckendorff's initiative. There simply could not be an excuse for this act, not only was denunciation not in honor, but the main thing was that the spirit of freethinking, brought from foreign campaigns, literally bubbled among people in uniforms, and even more so than among civilians.

Several months passed, and the so-called " Semenovskaya history". Cruelty towards subordinates F.E. Schwartz, the commander of Benckendorff's native regiment, was outraged not only by the soldiers, but also by the officers. The uprising of the Semyonovsky Life Guards Regiment lasted only two days - from October 16 to October 18, 1820, but this was enough to bury the government's confidence in the absolute loyalty of not only the guardsmen, but also the majority of the army people.

Emperor Alexander I

Benckendorff was one of the first to understand what could lead to " mind ferment”, those arguments, disputes and plans that matured in the core of close officer meetings. In September 1821, a note was placed on the table of Emperor Alexander I about secret societies existing in Russia, and in particular about “ Welfare Union". It had an analytical character: the author examined the causes that accompanied the emergence of secret societies, their tasks and goals. The idea was also expressed here that it was necessary to create a special body in the state that could keep the mood of public opinion under supervision, and, if necessary, stop illegal activities. But apart from everything else, the author named by name those in whose minds the spirit of freethinking settled. And this circumstance made the note a denunciation.

Emperor Alexander I

A sincere desire to prevent the breakdown of the existing state order and the hope that Alexander would delve into the essence of what was written did not materialize. It is well known that Alexander said about the participants in secret societies: It's not for me to judge them.". It looked noble: the emperor himself, it was the case, was free-thinking, plotting extremely bold reforms.

But the act of Benckendorff was just far from nobility. On December 1, 1821, the irritated emperor removed Benckendorff from command of the Guards Headquarters, appointing him commander of the Guards Cuirassier Division. It was an obvious disgrace. Benckendorff, in vain attempts to understand what caused it, again wrote to Alexander. It is unlikely that he guessed that the emperor was jarred by this paper and he taught him a lesson. And yet the paper lay under the cloth without a single mark of the king. Benckendorff is quiet...

“Furious waves raged on Palace Square, which with the Neva formed one huge lake, which poured out Nevsky Prospekt,” wrote an eyewitness of the terrible November night of 1824. The water in some places in St. Petersburg then rose 13 feet and 7 inches (that is, more than four meters). Carriages, books, police boxes, cradles with babies and coffins with the dead from washed-out graves floated around the city, which had turned into a huge churned lake.

Natural disasters have always revealed both villains in a hurry to take advantage of someone else's misfortune, and desperate brave men who saved others without caring about themselves.

So, having crossed the embankment, when the water had already reached his shoulders, General Benkendorf got to the boat, on which was midshipman of the guards crew Belyaev. Until 3 o'clock in the morning together they managed to save a huge number of people. Alexander I, who received many testimonies of Benckendorff's courageous behavior in those days, awarded him with a diamond snuffbox.

Several months passed, and the emperor was gone. And on December 14, 1925, Senate Square exploded in St. Petersburg. What eventually became perhaps the most sublime and romantic page in Russian history did not seem so to the witnesses of that memorable December day. Eyewitnesses write about the city numb with horror, about direct fire volleys into the dense ranks of the rebels, about those who fell dead on their faces in the snow, about streams of blood flowing onto the Neva ice. Then - about the botched soldiers, the hanged, the officers exiled to the mines. Some regretted that, they say, " they are terribly far from the people”, and therefore the scale was not the same. Otherwise, you see, it would have flared: brother against brother, regiment against regiment ... But it seemed to Benckendorff that there was an obvious managerial blunder and a terrible loss to the state, even in the fact that the excellent man midshipman Belyaev, with whom they scurried that crazy night , as by sea, throughout St. Petersburg, now 15 years to rot in the Siberian mines.

"Emperor Nicholas I in front of the formation of the Life Guards Sapper Battalion in the courtyard of the Winter Palace on December 14, 1825." V. N. Maksutov

But it was precisely those tragic days that laid the foundation for trust and even friendly friendship between the new Emperor Nicholas I and Benckendorff. There is evidence that on the morning of December 14, having learned about the rebellion, Nikolai told Alexander Khristoforovich: “Tonight, maybe both of us will no longer be in the world, but at least we will die, having fulfilled our duty.”

Benckendorff saw his duty in protecting the autocrat, and therefore the state. On the day of the riot, he commanded government troops stationed on Vasilievsky Island. Then he was a member of the Commission of Inquiry on the case of the Decembrists. Sitting in the Supreme Criminal Court, he more than once turned to the emperor with requests to mitigate the fate of the conspirators, while knowing full well how much Nikolay received with hostility any mention of criminals.

Portrait of Emperor Nicholas I, Alexander Shvabe

The cruel lesson taught to the emperor on December 14 was not in vain. By the will of fate, the same day changed the fate of Benckendorff.

Unlike the royal brother, Nicholas I carefully read the old "note" and found it very sensible. After the massacre with the Decembrists, which cost him many black minutes, the young emperor tried in every possible way to eliminate possible repetitions of this in the future. And, I must say, not in vain. A contemporary of those events, N.S. Shchukin wrote about the atmosphere prevailing in Russian society after December 14: “The general mood of minds was against the government, and the sovereign was not spared. The youth sang swearing songs, rewrote outrageous poems, scolding the government was considered fashionable talk. Some preached a constitution, others a republic. ..”

The Benckendorff project was, in fact, a program for the creation of a political police in Russia. What was to be done? Engage in political investigation, obtaining the necessary information, suppressing the activities of persons who have become in opposition to the regime. When the question of what exactly the political commission would do was resolved, another one arose - who would be involved in the investigation, collection of information and suppression of illegal actions. Benckendorff answered the tsar - the gendarmes.

Private of the Life Guards of the Gendarme half-squadron (in full dress)

In January 1826, Benckendorff presented to Nicholas " Project on the structure of the higher police”, in which, by the way, he wrote about what qualities her boss should have, and about the need for his unconditional one-man command.

“In order for the police to be good and embrace all the points of the Empire, it is necessary that it obey a system of strict centralization, that it be feared and respected, and that this respect be inspired by the moral qualities of its chief commander ...”

Alexander Khristoforovich explained why it is useful for society to have such an institution: “ Villains, intriguers and narrow-minded people, repenting of their mistakes or trying to atone for their guilt by denunciation, will at least know where to turn to them».

In 1826, more than 4 thousand people served in the gendarme corps. No one was driven here by force, on the contrary, there were much fewer vacancies than those who wanted to: only literate soldiers were selected, officers were accepted only with a good recommendation. However, some doubts of those who changed the army uniform to the gendarme uniform still prevailed. How will their duties be combined with the honor of a nobleman and an officer?

Gubarev P.K. Ceremonial and marching uniforms of the Gendarmerie teams.

By the way, the notorious L.V. was thinking very seriously about this. Dubelt, who later made a very successful career in the Gendarme Corps. Despite the fact that he is retired no place”, lived almost starving, the decision to put on a blue uniform was not easy for him. He consulted with his wife for a long time, shared with her doubts about the correctness of his choice: “If, when I join the Gendarme Corps, I become an informer, an earpiece, then my good name will, of course, be tarnished. But if, on the contrary, I ... will be the support of the poor, the protection of the unfortunate; if, acting openly, I will force justice to be given to the oppressed, I will see that in the places of justice they give a direct and fair direction to serious cases - then what will you call me? will not give me instructions that are not characteristic of an honest person? »

Portrait of Leonty Vasilyevich Dubelt (1792-1862), cavalry general, head of the secret police.

Pyotr Fyodorovich Sokolov

The first conclusions and even generalizations soon followed. Benckendorff points out to the emperor the true autocrats of the Russian state - the bureaucrats. " Theft, meanness, misinterpretation of laws“This is their craft,” he informs Nikolai. — Unfortunately, they are the ones who rule…”

Benckendorff and his closest assistant M.Ya. Fok believed: "To suppress the intrigues of the bureaucracy is the most important task of the III Department." I wonder if they were aware of the utter doom of this struggle? Probably yes. Here, for example, Benckendorff reports that a certain official for special assignments "gained great profit" through machinations. How to deal with him? The emperor replies: I do not intend to employ dishonest people". And no more...

Alexander Khristoforovich Benkendorf

Based on a drawing by Orlov, lithograph by Mosharovsky. 1830s from the collection of portraits of the Main Imperial Apartment.

It must be said that Benckendorff not only denounced, he sought to analyze the actions of the government, to understand what exactly irritated the public. In his opinion, the Decembrist rebellion was the result of "False Expectations" people. And therefore, he believed, public opinion must be respected, “it cannot be imposed, it must be followed ... You can’t put him in jail, but pressing him down will only bring him to bitterness.”

Nikolaevsky railway station in St. Petersburg. landing stage

Tsarskoye Selo Railway

In 1838, the chief of the Third Department points out the need to build a railway between Moscow and St. Petersburg, in 1841 he notes big health problems, in 1842 he warns of general dissatisfaction with the high customs tariff, in the same series and " grumbling about recruiting kits».

The year 1828 became the time for the approval of a new censorship charter. Now the literary world, formally remaining under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Public Education, was transferred to the jurisdiction of the Third Department.

Censors were recruited, and at the same time very visible people. Among them are F.I. Tyutchev, S.T. Aksakov, P.A. Vyazemsky. What did Mr. Benckendorff charge them with? They had to ensure that the press did not discuss the persons of the imperial family and that the authors avoided such an interpretation of events that could " draw the state into the abyss of misfortune».

Fedor Ivanovich Tyutchev

Portrait of S. T. Aksakov, Ivan Nikolaevich Kramskoy

Prince Pyotr Andreevich Vyazemsky (1792-1878) Pyotr Fedorovich Sokolov

I must say that the biggest troubles awaited the chief of gendarmes precisely at the moments of contact with the intellectual elite. Everyone was dissatisfied with him: both those who controlled and those who were controlled.

Irritated Vyazemsky, who wrote epigrams on Benckendorff, was reassured by Pushkin: “But since in essence this honest and worthy person is too careless to be vindictive, and too noble to try to harm you, do not allow hostile feelings in yourself and try to talk frankly with him. But Pushkin rarely made mistakes in assessing people. His attitude towards the chief of the III Section did not differ in the slightest from the general, a kind of ironically benevolent.

"Pushkin and Benkendorf", A.V. Kitaev.

It is known that Nicholas I volunteered to take over the censorship of the work of Pushkin, whose genius, by the way, was fully aware. For example, after reading Bulgarin’s negative review of the poet, the emperor wrote to Benckendorff: “I forgot to tell you, dear friend, that in today’s issue of Severnaya Pchela there is again an unfair and pamphlet article directed against Pushkin: therefore, I suggest that you call on Bulgarin and ban from now on, he should publish any criticism of the literary works of Mr. Pushkin.

Unknown artist. Caricature of F. V. Bulgarin. Caption: “What if this nose sniffs nettles? / The nettle seems to wither!”

Nevertheless, in 1826-1829, the Third Department actively carried out secret supervision of the poet. Benckendorff personally investigated a very unpleasant case for Pushkin " on the distribution of "Andrei Chenier" and " Gavriiliada". The perusal of private letters widely introduced into practice by Benckendorff in the 1930s drove the poet literally into a frenzy. “The police open letters from a husband to his wife and bring them to the king (a well-mannered and honest man) to read, and the king is not ashamed to admit it ...”

These lines were written as if in the expectation that both the tsar and Benckendorff would read them. Hard service, however, for the powerful of this world, and it is unlikely that the words of a person whose exclusivity both recognized slipped by without touching either the heart or consciousness.

Nicholas I and A.S. Pushkin

Alexander Khristoforovich perfectly understood all the negative aspects of his profession. It is no coincidence that he wrote in his Notes", that during a serious illness that happened to him in 1837, he was pleasantly surprised that his house " became the meeting place of the most diverse society" and most importantly, as he emphasized, completely independent in position».

“In the position that I held, this served, of course, as the most brilliant report for my 11-year administration, and I think that I was almost the first of all the chiefs of the secret police whom death was afraid of ...”

In general, it seems that Benckendorff never indulged in much joy about the power he had. Apparently, both the natural mind and life experience taught him to classify her as a kind of phantom.

Non-commissioned officer of the Gendarmerie Squadrons and Chief Officer of the Gendarmerie Divisions and Teams (in dress uniform)

Count Alexander Khristoforovich Benckendorff died on a ship that was carrying him from Germany, where he was undergoing long-term treatment, to his homeland. He was over sixty. His wife was waiting for him in Falla, their estate near Revel (now Tallinn). The ship has already brought the dead. It was the first grave in their cozy estate, although the hands of the count never reached the farm.

View of Fall Castle

Estonian Castle Fall, where Benckendorff is buried

In the office of the Falls castle, he kept a wooden fragment left from the coffin of Alexander I, set in bronze in the form of a mausoleum. On the wall, in addition to portraits of sovereigns, hung the famous watercolor of Kolman "Riot on the Senate Square". Boulevard, generals with plumes, soldiers with white belts on dark uniforms, a monument to Peter the Great in cannon smoke ...

Something, apparently, did not let go of the count if he kept this picture before his eyes. Probably, Alexander Khristoforovich was not a bad person at all. But here's the problem: every time you have to prove it.

St. Petersburg. Senate Square December 14, 1825. Drawing by Kolman from Count Benckendorff's office in Phall.

The first gendarmerie regiment, formed from the Gatchina units by the heir to the throne, Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich, appeared in Russia as early as 1792 and until 1796 served as a military police. Later, already being emperor, Pavel included the Gatchina gendarmes in the Life Guards Cavalry Regiment. From 1815, already under Alexander I, the gendarmes dispersed in small groups across the army units were charged with the duty of: “observing order at bivouacs ... taking the wounded during battles to dressing stations, capturing marauders”, they also performed informational functions. Since February 1817, the gendarmerie units, which were increasingly acquiring police functions, were used to maintain order in the capital, provincial and port cities. Benckendorff was familiar with their " activities"- Emperor Alexander I back in January 1821 entrusted him with supervision of the mood in the troops, and he, as the then chief of staff of the Guards Corps, "took myself to look". But now that wasn't enough. It was necessary to deal with the organization of state security. The system created by Benckendorff was not particularly complex, which, in his opinion, practically excluded possible malfunctions and ensured maximum efficiency.

Think Tank - Third branch with 72 employees. Benckendorff selected them meticulously, according to three main criteria - honesty, intelligence, good thinking.

Private of the Gendarmerie Divisions and Teams (in full dress)

Employees of the service entrusted to Benckendorff delved into the activities of ministries, departments, and committees. The assessment of the functioning of all structures was based on one condition: they should not obscure the interests of the state. In order to provide the emperor with a clear picture of what was happening in the empire, Benckendorff compiled an annual analytical report based on numerous reports from his employees, likening it to a topographic map warning where the swamp was and where the abyss was.

With his inherent scrupulousness, Alexander Khristoforovich divided Russia into 8 state districts. In each - from 8 to 11 provinces. Each district has its own gendarmerie general. In each province - on the gendarme department. And all these threads converged in the ocher-colored building on the corner of the Moika and Gorokhovaya embankments, at the headquarters of the Third Section.

The gendarme corps was conceived as an elite one, providing for solid material support. In July 1826, the Third Department was created - an institution designed to secretly supervise the society, and Benckendorff was appointed its head. In April 1827, the emperor signed a decree on the organization of the Gendarme Corps with the rights of the army. Benckendorff became his commander.

In his own way, the chief of the III Section was a highly integral nature. Having once realized the principles of his service to the Fatherland, he no longer betrayed them. As literally all his life he did not change one more inclination, which seemed to redeem both his harsh military and ambiguous police craft.

Portrait of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna

Artist Reichel Karl Yakovlevich

«.. .I met Alexander Benkendorf,- wrote in 1819 the wife of Nikolai Alexandra Fedorovna. “I heard a lot about him during the war, back in Berlin and Dobberen; everyone praised his courage and regretted his disorderly life, at the same time they laughed at her. I was struck by his sedate appearance, which was not at all characteristic of the reputation of a rake established behind him.

Yes, Count Benckendorff was extremely amorous and had a lot of novels, one more exciting than the other and - alas! - faster. We repeat after the now forgotten poet Myatlev: “ We did not hear, but only - they say...” It was said about the famous actress Mademoiselle Georges, the subject of Napoleon’s own passion (at one time), that her appearance in St. Petersburg from 1808 to 1812 was connected not so much with tours as with the search for Mr. to marry her. But what can you not promise in Paris!

Life story
“The most faithful and unmistakable judgment of the public about the chief of the gendarmes will be at a time when he is gone,” wrote Benckendorff about himself. But he could hardly even imagine how distant this time would be ...
The most famous of the gendarmes of Russia was the eldest of four children of the infantry general, the Riga civil governor in 1796-1799, Christopher Ivanovich Benckendorff and Baroness Anna-Juliana Schelling von Kanstadt. His grandfather Johann-Michael Benkendorf, in Russian Ivan Ivanovich, was a lieutenant general and chief commandant of Revel. With him, who died in the rank of lieutenant general, the approach of the Benckendorffs to the Russian throne is connected. Catherine II, after the death of Ivan Ivanovich, in memory of the 25-year "immaculate service in the Russian army" made his widow Sofya Ivanovna, nee Levenshtern, the tutor of the Grand Dukes - Alexander and Konstantin Pavlovich. In this role, she stayed for less than four years, but this period was enough to play a big role in the fate and career of her future grandchildren.

Alexander was born on July 4 (June 23), 1783. (There is an opinion that this date can also fluctuate between 1781 and 1784. - Approx. Aut.) Thanks to the palace connections of my grandmother and mother, who came to Russia from Denmark in the retinue of the future Empress Maria Feodorovna, his career was arranged immediately. At the age of 15, the young man was enrolled as a non-commissioned officer in the privileged Life Guards Semenovsky Regiment. His promotion to lieutenant also followed very quickly. And it was in this rank that he became the aide-de-camp of Paul I. Moreover, unlike many of his predecessors, who were pretty tormented by the unpredictable emperor, the young Benckendorff did not know such problems.
Although, it must be said, the favorable prospects associated with the honorary position of adjutant wing did not appeal to him. At the risk of causing the highest displeasure, in 1803 he asked to go to the Caucasus, and this did not even remotely resemble diplomatic voyages to Germany, Greece and the Mediterranean, where the emperor sent the young Benckendorff.
The Caucasus, with its exhausting and bloody war with the highlanders, was a real test of personal courage and ability to lead people. Benckendorff passed it with dignity. For a horse attack during the assault on the Ganzha fortress, he was awarded the Orders of St. Anna and St. Vladimir, IV degree. In 1805, together with the "flying detachment" of the Cossacks, which he commanded, Benckendorff defeated the advanced enemy posts at the fortress of Gamlyu.
Caucasian battles were replaced by European ones. In the Prussian campaign of 1806-1807 for the Battle of Preussisch-Eylau, he was promoted to captain and then to colonel. Then followed the Russian-Turkish wars under the command of Ataman M.I. Platov, the most difficult battles at the crossing of the Danube, the capture of Silistria. In 1811, Benkendorf, at the head of two regiments, makes a desperate sortie from the Lovchi fortress to the Ruschuk fortress through enemy territory. This breakthrough earns him "George" IV degree.
In the first weeks of the Napoleonic invasion, Benckendorff commanded the vanguard of the detachment of Baron Vincengorod, on July 27, under his leadership, the detachment made a brilliant attack at Velizh. After the liberation from the enemy Moscow, Benckendorff was appointed commandant of the devastated capital. During the persecution of the Napoleonic army, he distinguished himself in many cases, captured three generals and more than 6,000 Napoleonic soldiers. In the campaign of 1813, becoming the head of the so-called "flying" detachments, he first defeated the French at Tempelberg, for which he was awarded "George" III degree, then forced the enemy to surrender Fürstenwald. Soon he was already in Berlin with the detachment. For unparalleled courage shown during the three-day cover of the passage of Russian troops to Dessau and Roskau, he was awarded a golden saber with diamonds.
Further - a swift raid into Holland and the complete defeat of the enemy there, then Belgium - the cities of Louvain and Mecheln were taken by his detachment, where 24 guns and 600 English prisoners were recaptured from the French. Then, in 1814, there was Lyuttikh, the battle near Krasnoe, where he commanded the entire cavalry of Count Vorontsov. Awards followed one after another - in addition to "George" III and IV degrees, also "Anna" I degree, "Vladimir", several foreign orders. He had three swords for bravery alone. He ended the war with the rank of major general.
In March 1819, Benckendorff was appointed chief of staff of the Guards Corps.
The seemingly impeccable reputation of a warrior for the Fatherland, which put Alexander Khristoforovich among the most prominent military leaders, did not bring him, however, the glory among fellow citizens that accompanied people who went through the crucible of the Patriotic War. Benckendorff failed to resemble heroes either during his lifetime or after his death. His portrait in the famous gallery of heroes of 1812 causes undisguised surprise for many. But he was a brave soldier and an excellent military leader. Although there are many human destinies in history, in which one half of life, as it were, cancels the other. Benckendorff's life is a prime example of this.
How did it all start? The formal reason for colleagues to look at Benkendorf from a different angle was a skirmish with the commander of the Preobrazhensky regiment K.K. Kirch. Concerned about the interest shown by the young guards in the revolutionary events taking place in Spain, Benckendorff ordered Kirch to prepare a detailed memorandum on "dangerous conversations." He refused, saying that he did not want to be an informer. The Chief of the Guards Staff, in anger, put him out the door. The officers of the Preobrazhensky Regiment learned about what had happened, of course, who with might and main condemned Benckendorff's initiative. There simply could not be an excuse for this act, not only was denunciation not in honor, but the main thing was that the spirit of freethinking, brought from foreign campaigns, literally bubbled among people in uniforms, and even more so than among civilians.
A few months passed, and the so-called "Semenov story" broke out. Cruelty towards subordinates F.E. Schwartz, the commander of Benckendorff's native regiment, was outraged not only by the soldiers, but also by the officers. The uprising of the Semyonovsky Life Guards Regiment lasted only two days - from October 16 to October 18, 1820, but this was enough to bury the government's confidence in the absolute loyalty of not only the guardsmen, but also the majority of the army people.
Benckendorff was one of the first to understand what the “fermentation of minds” could lead to, those arguments, disputes and plans that were ripening in the core of close officer meetings. In September 1821, a note was placed on the table of Emperor Alexander I about the secret societies that exist in Russia, and in particular about the "Union of Welfare". It had an analytical character: the author examined the causes that accompanied the emergence of secret societies, their tasks and goals. The idea was also expressed here that it was necessary to create a special body in the state that could keep the mood of public opinion under supervision, and, if necessary, stop illegal activities. But apart from everything else, the author named by name those in whose minds the spirit of freethinking settled. And this circumstance made the note a denunciation.
A sincere desire to prevent the breakdown of the existing state order and the hope that Alexander would delve into the essence of what was written did not materialize. It is well known that Alexander said about the participants in secret societies: "It is not for me to judge them." It looked noble: the emperor himself, it was the case, was free-thinking, plotting extremely bold reforms.
But the act of Benckendorff was just far from nobility. On December 1, 1821, the irritated emperor removed Benckendorff from command of the Guards Headquarters, appointing him commander of the Guards Cuirassier Division. It was an obvious disgrace. Benckendorff, in vain attempts to understand what caused it, again wrote to Alexander. It is unlikely that he guessed that the emperor was jarred by this paper and he taught him a lesson. And yet the paper lay under the cloth without a single mark of the king. Benckendorff is quiet...
“Furious waves raged on Palace Square, which with the Neva formed one huge lake, pouring out of Nevsky Prospekt,” wrote an eyewitness of the terrible November night of 1824. The water in some places in St. Petersburg then rose 13 feet and 7 inches (that is, more than four meters). Carriages, books, police boxes, cradles with babies and coffins with the dead from washed-out graves floated around the city, which had turned into a huge churned lake.
Natural disasters have always revealed both villains in a hurry to take advantage of someone else's misfortune, and desperate brave men who saved others without caring about themselves.
So, having crossed the embankment, when the water had already reached his shoulders, General Benkendorf got to the boat, on which was midshipman of the guards crew Belyaev. Until 3 o'clock in the morning together they managed to save a huge number of people. Alexander I, who received many testimonies of Benckendorff's courageous behavior in those days, awarded him with a diamond snuffbox.
Several months passed, and the emperor was gone. And on December 14, 1925, Senate Square exploded in St. Petersburg. What eventually became perhaps the most sublime and romantic page in Russian history did not seem so to the witnesses of that memorable December day. Eyewitnesses write about the city numb with horror, about direct fire volleys into the dense ranks of the rebels, about those who fell dead on their faces in the snow, about streams of blood flowing onto the Neva ice. Then - about the botched soldiers, the hanged, the officers exiled to the mines. Some regretted that, they say, "they are terribly far from the people," and therefore the scale was not the same. Otherwise, you see, it would have flared: brother against brother, regiment against regiment ... But it seemed to Benckendorff that there was an obvious managerial blunder and a terrible loss to the state, even in the fact that the excellent man midshipman Belyaev, with whom they scurried that crazy night , as by sea, throughout St. Petersburg, now 15 years to rot in the Siberian mines.
But it was precisely those tragic days that laid the foundation for trust and even friendly friendship between the new Emperor Nicholas I and Benckendorff. There is evidence that on the morning of December 14, having learned about the rebellion, Nikolai told Alexander Khristoforovich: “Tonight, maybe both of us will no longer be in the world, but at least we will die, having fulfilled our duty.”
Benckendorff saw his duty in protecting the autocrat, and therefore the state. On the day of the riot, he commanded government troops stationed on Vasilievsky Island. Then he was a member of the Commission of Inquiry on the case of the Decembrists. Sitting in the Supreme Criminal Court, he more than once turned to the emperor with requests to mitigate the fate of the conspirators, while knowing full well how much Nikolay received with hostility any mention of criminals.
The cruel lesson taught to the emperor on December 14 was not in vain. By the will of fate, the same day changed the fate of Benckendorff.
Unlike the royal brother, Nicholas I carefully read the old "note" and found it very sensible. After the massacre with the Decembrists, which cost him many black minutes, the young emperor tried in every possible way to eliminate possible repetitions of this in the future. And, I must say, not in vain. A contemporary of those events, N.S. Shchukin wrote about the atmosphere prevailing in Russian society after December 14: “The general mood of minds was against the government, and the sovereign was not spared. The youth sang swearing songs, rewrote outrageous poems, scolding the government was considered fashionable talk. Some preached a constitution, others a republic ... "
The Benckendorff project was, in fact, a program for the creation of a political police in Russia. What was to be done? Engage in political investigation, obtaining the necessary information, suppressing the activities of persons who have become in opposition to the regime. When the question of what exactly the political commission would do was resolved, another one arose - who would be engaged in detecting, collecting information and suppressing illegal actions. Benckendorff answered the tsar - the gendarmes.
In January 1826, Benckendorff presented to Nikolai the “Project on the Structure of the Higher Police”, in which, by the way, he wrote about what qualities her boss should have, and about the need for his unconditional one-man command.
“In order for the police to be good and to embrace all points of the Empire, it is necessary that they obey a system of strict centralization, that they be feared and respected, and that this respect be inspired by the moral qualities of their chief commander ...”
Alexander Khristoforovich explained why it is useful for society to have such an institution: “Villains, intriguers and narrow-minded people, repenting of their mistakes or trying to atone for their guilt by denunciation, will at least know where to turn to them.”
In 1826, more than 4 thousand people served in the gendarme corps. No one was driven here by force, on the contrary, there were much fewer vacancies than those who wanted to: only literate soldiers were selected, officers were accepted only with a good recommendation. However, some doubts of those who changed the army uniform to the gendarme uniform still prevailed. How will their duties be combined with the honor of a nobleman and an officer?
By the way, the notorious L.V. was thinking very seriously about this. Dubelt, who later made a very successful career in the Gendarme Corps. Despite the fact that he, being retired "without a place", lived almost from hand to mouth, the decision to put on a blue uniform was not easy for him. He consulted with his wife for a long time, shared with her doubts about the correctness of his choice: “If, when I join the Gendarme Corps, I become an informer, an earpiece, then my good name will, of course, be tarnished. But if, on the contrary, I ... will be the support of the poor, the protection of the unfortunate; if, acting openly, I will force justice to be given to the oppressed, I will see that in the courts they give a direct and fair direction to serious cases - then what will you call me? will not give me instructions that are not characteristic of an honest person?
The first conclusions and even generalizations soon followed. Benckendorff points out to the emperor the true autocrats of the Russian state - the bureaucrats. “Theft, meanness, misinterpretation of laws - this is their craft,” he informs Nikolai. “Unfortunately, they are the ones who rule…”
Benckendorff and his closest assistant M.Ya. Fok believed: "To suppress the intrigues of the bureaucracy is the most important task of the III Branch." I wonder if they were aware of the utter doom of this struggle? Probably yes. Here, for example, Benckendorff reports that a certain official for special assignments "acquired great profit" through machinations. How to deal with him? The emperor replies: "I do not intend to accept dishonorable people." And no more...
It must be said that Benckendorff not only denounced, he sought to analyze the actions of the government, to understand what exactly irritated the public. In his opinion, the Decembrist rebellion was the result of the “deceived expectations” of the people. And therefore, he believed, public opinion must be respected, “it cannot be imposed, it must be followed ... You can’t put him in jail, but pressing him down will only bring him to bitterness.”
In 1838, the chief of the Third Department points to the need to build a railway between Moscow and St. Petersburg, in 1841 he notes big problems in the field of health, in 1842 he warns of general dissatisfaction with the high customs tariff, in the same series and “murmuring about recruitment sets."
The year 1828 became the time for the approval of a new censorship charter. Now the literary world, formally remaining under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Public Education, was transferred to the jurisdiction of the Third Department.
Censors were recruited, and at the same time very visible people. Among them are F.I. Tyutchev, S.T. Aksakov, P.A. Vyazemsky. What did Mr. Benckendorff charge them with? They had to ensure that the press did not discuss the persons of the imperial family and that the authors avoided such an interpretation of events that could "draw the state into the abyss of misfortune."
I must say that the biggest troubles awaited the chief of gendarmes precisely at the moments of contact with the intellectual elite. Everyone was dissatisfied with him: both those who controlled and those who were controlled.
Irritated Vyazemsky, who wrote epigrams on Benckendorff, was reassured by Pushkin: “But since in essence this honest and worthy person is too careless to be vindictive, and too noble to try to harm you, do not allow hostile feelings in yourself and try to talk frankly with him. But Pushkin rarely made mistakes in assessing people. His attitude towards the chief of the III Section did not differ in the slightest from the general, a kind of ironically benevolent.
It is known that Nicholas I volunteered to take over the censorship of the work of Pushkin, whose genius, by the way, was fully aware. For example, after reading Bulgarin’s negative review of the poet, the emperor wrote to Benckendorff: “I forgot to tell you, dear friend, that in today’s issue of Severnaya Pchela there is again an unfair and pamphlet article directed against Pushkin: therefore, I suggest that you call on Bulgarin and ban from now on he should publish any criticism of the literary works of Mr. Pushkin.
Nevertheless, in 1826-1829, the Third Department actively carried out secret supervision of the poet. Benckendorff personally investigated the case, which was very unpleasant for Pushkin, “about the distribution of Andrey Chenier and the Gavriiliada.” The perusal of private letters widely introduced into practice by Benckendorff in the 1930s drove the poet literally into a frenzy. “The police open the letters of the husband to his wife and bring them to read to the king (a well-mannered and honest man), and the king is not ashamed to admit it ...”
These lines were written as if in the expectation that both the tsar and Benckendorff would read them. Hard service, however, for the powerful of this world, and it is unlikely that the words of a person whose exclusivity both recognized slipped by without touching either the heart or consciousness.
Alexander Khristoforovich perfectly understood all the negative aspects of his profession. It is no coincidence that he wrote in his Notes that during a serious illness that happened to him in 1837, he was pleasantly surprised that his house "has become a gathering place for the most diverse society," and most importantly, as he emphasized, "completely independent by position."
“In the position that I held, this served, of course, as the most brilliant report for my 11-year administration, and I think that I was almost the first of all the chiefs of the secret police whom death was afraid of ...”
In general, it seems that Benckendorff never indulged in much joy about the power he had. Apparently, both the natural mind and life experience taught him to classify her as a kind of phantom.
Count Alexander Khristoforovich Benckendorff died on a ship that was carrying him from Germany, where he was undergoing long-term treatment, to his homeland. He was over sixty. His wife was waiting for him in Falla, their estate near Revel (now Tallinn). The ship has already brought the dead. It was the first grave in their cozy estate, although the hands of the count never reached the farm.
In the office of the Falls castle, he kept a wooden fragment left from the coffin of Alexander I, set in bronze in the form of a mausoleum. On the wall, in addition to portraits of sovereigns, hung Kolman's famous watercolor "Revolt on Senate Square." Boulevard, generals with plumes, soldiers with white belts on dark uniforms, a monument to Peter the Great in cannon smoke ...
Something, apparently, did not let go of the count if he kept this picture before his eyes. Probably, Alexander Khristoforovich was not a bad person at all. But here's the problem: every time you have to prove it.
The first gendarmerie regiment, formed from the Gatchina units by the heir to the throne, Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich, appeared in Russia as early as 1792 and until 1796 served as a military police. Later, already being emperor, Pavel included the Gatchina gendarmes in the Life Guards Cavalry Regiment. From 1815, already under Alexander I, the gendarmes dispersed in small groups among army units were charged with the duty of “observing order at bivouacs ... taking the wounded during battles to dressing stations, capturing marauders,” they also performed informational functions. Since February 1817, the gendarmerie units, which were increasingly acquiring police functions, were used to maintain order in the capital, provincial and port cities. Benckendorff was familiar with their "activities" firsthand - in January 1821, Emperor Alexander I entrusted him with supervision of the mood in the troops, and he, as the then chief of staff of the Guards Corps, "took to look at himself." But now that wasn't enough. It was necessary to deal with the organization of state security. The system created by Benckendorff was not particularly complex, which, in his opinion, practically excluded possible malfunctions and ensured maximum efficiency.
Think Tank - The third branch with 72 employees. Benckendorff selected them meticulously, according to three main criteria - honesty, intelligence, good thinking.
Employees of the service entrusted to Benckendorff delved into the activities of ministries, departments, and committees. The assessment of the functioning of all structures was based on one condition: they should not obscure the interests of the state. In order to provide the emperor with a clear picture of what was happening in the empire, Benckendorff compiled an annual analytical report based on numerous reports from his employees, likening it to a topographic map warning where the swamp was and where the abyss was.
With his inherent scrupulousness, Alexander Khristoforovich divided Russia into 8 state districts. In each - from 8 to 11 provinces. Each district has its own gendarmerie general. In each province - on the gendarme department. And all these threads converged in the ocher-colored building on the corner of the Moika and Gorokhovaya embankments, at the headquarters of the Third Section.
The gendarme corps was conceived as an elite one, providing for solid material support. In July 1826, the Third Department was created - an institution designed to secretly supervise the society, and Benckendorff was appointed its head. In April 1827, the emperor signed a decree on the organization of the Gendarme Corps with the rights of the army. Benckendorff became his commander.
In his own way, the chief of the III Section was a highly integral nature. Having once realized the principles of his service to the Fatherland, he no longer betrayed them. As literally all his life he did not change one more inclination, which seemed to redeem both his harsh military and ambiguous police craft.
“... I met Alexander Benckendorff,” Nikolai's wife Alexandra Fedorovna wrote in 1819. - I heard a lot about him during the war, back in Berlin and Dobberen; everyone praised his courage and regretted his disorderly life, at the same time they laughed at her. I was struck by his sedate appearance, which was not at all characteristic of the reputation of a rake established behind him.
Yes, Count Benckendorff was extremely amorous and had a lot of novels, one more exciting than the other and - alas! - faster. Let us repeat after the now forgotten poet Myatlev: “We have not heard, but only they say ...” The year 1812 was associated not so much with tours as with the search for Mr. Benckendorff, who had promised to marry her. But what can you not promise in Paris!
As befits a classic ladies' man, Alexander Khristoforovich married hastily at the age of 37. I sat in some house. They ask him: “Will you be with Elizaveta Andreevna in the evening?” - “Which Elizabeth Andreevna?” He sees amazed faces. "Oh yes! Well, of course I will!” In the evening he comes to the address he asked for. The guests are already sitting on the sofas. This and that. The hostess Elizaveta Andreevna, the widow of General P.G., enters the living room. Bibikov. Here at once his fate was decided ...

Lyudmila Tretyakova http://www.vokrugsveta.ru/

Count Alexander Khristoforovich Benkendorf (at birth Alexander von Benkendorf) (1782-1844) - Russian military leader, cavalry general; chief of the gendarmes and at the same time Chief Head of the III Department of His Own Imperial Majesty's Chancellery (1826-1844).
Brother of Konstantin Benckendorff and Dorothea Lieven.
Descended from the noble family of Benckendorff.

Botman, Yegor Ivanovich - Portrait of Alexander Khristoforovich Benkendorf

THE FIRST GENDARME OF RUSSIA

Traces of the state activity of the Benkendorfs lead to the Kaluga province, where their family estates were located. The most famous of the gendarmes of Russia was the eldest of four children of the infantry general, the Riga civil governor in 1796-1799, Christopher Ivanovich Benckendorff and Baroness Anna-Juliana Schelling von Kanstadt.
His great-grandfather, German Johann Benckendorff, was burgomaster in Riga and raised to the nobility by King Charles of Sweden.
His grandfather Johann-Michael Benkendorf, in Russian Ivan Ivanovich, was a lieutenant general and chief commandant of Revel. With him, who died in the rank of lieutenant general, the approach of the Benckendorffs to the Russian throne is connected.
After the death of Ivan Ivanovich, Catherine II, in memory of 25 years of "immaculate service in the Russian army," made his widow Sophia Elizaveta, nee Riegemann von Levenshtern, the tutor of the Grand Dukes - Alexander and Konstantin Pavlovich.
She stayed in this role for four years, which turned out to be enough to play a big role in the fate and career of her future grandchildren.

Alexander Khristoforovich Benkendorf was born on June 23, 1783. Thanks to the palace connections of his grandmother and mother, who came to Russia from Denmark in the retinue of the future Empress Maria Feodorovna, his career was immediately determined.
At the age of 15, the young man was enrolled as a non-commissioned officer in the privileged Life Guards Semenovsky Regiment. His promotion to lieutenant also followed very quickly. In this rank, he became the aide-de-camp of Paul I.
However, the favorable prospects associated with the honorary position of the emperor's adjutant wing did not last long.
In 1803, the unpredictable Paul sent him to the Caucasus, which did not even remotely resemble diplomatic voyages to Germany, Greece and the Mediterranean, where the emperor sent the young Benckendorff.
The Caucasus, with its exhausting and bloody war with the highlanders, became a real test of courage and ability to lead people, which Benckendorff passed with dignity. For a horse attack during the assault on the Ganzha fortress, he was awarded the Orders of St. Anna and St. Vladimir, IV degree.
Caucasian battles were soon replaced by European ones. In the Prussian campaign of 1806-1807 for the battle of Preussisch-Eylau, Benckendorff was promoted to captain, and then to colonel.
This was followed by Russian-Turkish wars under the command of the Cossack ataman M. I. Platov, the most difficult battles at the crossing of the Danube, the capture of Silistria.
In 1811, Benkendorf, at the head of two regiments, makes a desperate sortie from the Lovchi fortress to the Ruschuk fortress through enemy territory. This breakthrough earns him "George" IV degree.
In the first weeks of the Napoleonic invasion, Benkendorf commanded the vanguard of the detachment of Baron Vincengorod, on July 27, under his leadership, the detachment made a brilliant attack at Velizh. After the liberation from the enemy Moscow, Benckendorff was appointed commandant of the devastated capital. During the persecution of the Napoleonic army, he took and captured three generals and more than 6,000 Napoleonic soldiers.
In the campaign of 1813, at the head of the "flying" detachments, he defeated the French at Tempelberg, for which he was awarded the "St. George" III degree, then forced the enemy to surrender Fürstenwald.
Soon he and his detachment were already in Berlin. For unparalleled courage shown during the three-day cover of the passage of Russian troops to Dessau and Roskau, he was awarded a golden saber with diamonds.
Further - a swift raid into Holland and the complete defeat of the enemy there, then Belgium - the cities of Louvain and Mecheln were taken by his detachment, where 24 guns and 600 English prisoners were recaptured from the French. Then, in 1814, there was Lyuttikh, the battle near Krasnoe, where he commanded the entire cavalry of Count Vorontsov.
Awards followed one after another - in addition to "George" III and IV degrees, also "Anna" I degree, "Vladimir", several foreign orders. He had three swords for bravery alone.
He ended the war with the rank of major general. In this rank, in March 1819, Benkendorf was appointed chief of staff of the Guards Corps.

However, the impeccable reputation of a warrior for the Fatherland, which put Alexander Khristoforovich among the outstanding military leaders, did not bring him the glory among fellow citizens that accompanied the participants in the Patriotic War.

Portrait of Alexander Khristoforovich Benckendorff by George Dow.
Military Gallery of the Winter Palace, State Hermitage Museum (St. Petersburg)

His portrait in the famous gallery of heroes of 1812 causes undisguised surprise for many.
But he was a brave warrior and a talented military leader. Although there are many human destinies in history in which one half of life cancels the other. Benckendorff's life is a prime example of this.
He was one of the first to understand what the "fermentation of minds" could lead to, those arguments and thoughts that matured in officers' meetings. In September 1821, a note about the secret societies existing in Russia and about the "Union of Welfare" was placed on the table of Emperor Alexander I.
It expressed the idea of ​​the need to create a special body in the state that could keep the mood of public opinion under control and stop illegal activities.
The author also named by name those in whose minds the spirit of freethinking settled. And this circumstance made the note a denunciation.

A sincere desire to prevent the breakdown of the existing state order and the hope that Alexander would delve into the essence of what was written did not materialize.
It is well known that Alexander said about the participation of secret societies: "It is not for me to judge them."
It looked noble: the emperor himself was free-thinking, plotting extremely bold reforms.
But Benckendorff's act was far from nobility.
On December 1, 1821, the irritated emperor removed Benckendorff from command of the Guards Headquarters, appointing him commander of the Guards Cuirassier Division. It was an obvious disgrace. Benckendorff, in vain attempts to understand what caused it, again wrote to Alexander.
It is unlikely that he guessed that the emperor was offended by this paper and he taught him a lesson.

A few months later, the emperor was gone. And on December 14, 1825, Petersburg exploded with an uprising on Senate Square. What became perhaps the most sublime and romantic page in Russian history, did not seem so to the witnesses of that memorable December day.
Eyewitnesses write about the city numb with horror, about direct fire volleys into the dense ranks of the rebels, about those who fell dead on their faces in the snow, about streams of blood flowing onto the Neva ice. Then - about the botched soldiers, the hanged, the officers exiled to the mines.
But it was precisely those tragic days that laid the foundation for the trust and friendly affection of the new Emperor Nicholas I and Benckendorff.
On the morning of December 14, having learned about the riot, Nikolai told Alexander Khristoforovich:
"Tonight, perhaps we will both be dead, but at least we will die, having done our duty."
On the day of the riot, General Benckendorff commanded the government troops stationed on Vasilievsky Island. Then he was a member of the Commission of Inquiry on the case of the Decembrists.

The cruel lesson taught to the emperor on December 14 was not in vain. Unlike the royal brother, Nicholas I carefully read the old "note" and found it very sensible. After the massacre with the Decembrists, which cost him many black minutes, the young emperor tried in every possible way to eliminate possible repetitions of this in the future. And, I must say, not in vain. A contemporary of those events, N. S. Shchukin, wrote about the atmosphere prevailing in Russian society after December 14: “The general mood of minds was against the government, they did not spare the sovereign either. constitution, other republics..."

The Benckendorff project was, in fact, a program for the creation of a political police in Russia.
In January 1826, Benckendorff presented to Nikolai the "Project on the Structure of the Higher Police", in which he wrote about what qualities her boss should have and about the need for his unconditional one-man command. Alexander Khristoforovich explained why it is useful for society to have such an institution: "Villains, intriguers and narrow-minded people, repenting of their mistakes or trying to atone for their guilt by denunciation, will at least know where to turn to."

The system of state security created by Benckendorff was not particularly complex and practically ruled out possible malfunctions.
All state structures and organizations were obliged to provide assistance to people "in blue uniforms. The Third Department became the think tank of the entire system - an institution designed to secretly supervise society, and Benckendorff was appointed its head.
Employees of the service entrusted to Benckendorff delved into the activities of ministries, departments, and committees. In order to provide the emperor with a clear picture of what was happening in the empire, Benckendorff compiled an annual analytical report based on numerous reports from his employees, likening it to a topographic map warning where the swamp was and where the abyss was.
With his inherent scrupulousness, Alexander Khristoforovich divided Russia into 8 state districts. In each - from 8 to 11 provinces. Each district has its own gendarmerie general.
In each province - on the gendarme department. And all these threads converged in St. Petersburg at the corner of the Moika and Gorokhovaya embankments, at the headquarters of the Third Branch.

The first conclusions and generalizations soon followed. Benckendorff points out to the emperor the true autocrats of the Russian state - the bureaucrats.
"Theft, meanness, misinterpretation of laws - that's their craft," he informs Nikolai. "Unfortunately, they rule ...".
But Benckendorff not only denounced, he analyzed the actions of the government in order to understand what exactly irritated the public. In his opinion, the Decembrist rebellion was the result of the "deceived expectations" of the people. Therefore, he believed, public opinion must be respected, "it must not be imposed, it must be followed ... You can't put him in jail, but pressing him down will only bring him to bitterness."

The range of issues considered by the Third Division was very wide. They also concerned state security, police investigation, affairs of politics, the state, and education.
In 1838, the chief of the Third Division pointed out the need to build a railway between Moscow and St. recruiting kits.

After the collapse of the imperial carriage near Penza, in which he was traveling with the sovereign, Alexander Khristoforovich became one of the closest dignitaries of Nicholas I, constantly accompanying him on trips around Russia and abroad.
In 1826 he was appointed commander of the Imperial Headquarters, a senator, and since 1831 a member of the Committee of Ministers.
In 1832, the sovereign raised Alexander Khristoforovich to the dignity of a count, which, due to the absence of male offspring from the count, was extended to his own nephew Konstantin Konstantinovich. Nikolai had an exceptionally high regard for Benckendorff.
"He did not quarrel with anyone, but reconciled with many," the emperor once said. There were few people who corresponded to such a characteristic near the Russian tsars.

By nature, Count Benckendorff was amorous and had a lot of novels. It was said about the famous actress Mademoiselle Georges, the subject of Napoleon’s own passion, that her appearance in St. Petersburg from 1808 to 1812 was connected not so much with tours as with the search for Benckendorff, who allegedly promised to marry her.

Count A.Kh. Benckendorff with his wife
Rice. El. Rigby, 1840

The first unsuccessful marriage, Alexander Khristoforovich married in the 37th year of his life to Elizaveta Andreevna Bibikova. By the second marriage, the count was married to Sophia Elizaveta (Sofya Ivanovna) Riegemann von Levenshtern, who was the tutor of the Grand Dukes, the future emperors Alexander and Nicholas.

Alexander Khristoforovich understood all the negative aspects of his profession. It is no coincidence that he wrote in his "Notes" that during a serious illness that happened to him in 1837, he was pleasantly surprised that his house "became a meeting place for the most diverse society," and most importantly - "completely independent in its position" .
"In the position that I held, this served, of course, as the most brilliant report for my 11-year administration, and I think that I was almost the first of all the chiefs of the secret police, who was feared to death ...".
Benckendorff never overjoyed at the power he had. Apparently, both the natural mind, and life experience and personal benevolence of the emperor taught him to be above circumstances.

Once, near Penza, at a sharp turn, the carriage in which he was traveling with the sovereign overturned. The crash was serious: the driver and adjutant lay unconscious. Nikolay was strongly crushed by the carriage. Benckendorff was thrown aside. He ran up, lifted the carriage as much as possible so that the emperor could get out. He continued to lie and said that he could not move: probably, his shoulder was broken.
Benckendorff saw that Nikolai was losing consciousness from pain. I found a bottle of wine in my luggage, poured it into a mug, forced me to drink it.
“Seeing in front of me sitting on the bare ground with a broken shoulder the most powerful lord ... I was involuntarily struck by this visual scene of the insignificance of earthly majesty.
The same thought came to the sovereign, and we talked about it ... "

It is known that Nicholas I volunteered to take over the censorship of the work of Pushkin, whose genius, he was fully aware of.
For example, after reading Bulgarin's negative review of the poet, the emperor wrote to Benckendorff:

"I forgot to tell you, dear Friend, that in today's issue of Severnaya Pchela there is again an unfair and pamphlet article directed against Pushkin: therefore I suggest that you call on Bulgarin and forbid him from now on to publish any criticism of the literary works of Mr. Pushkin ".

Nevertheless, in 1826-1829, the Third Department actively carried out secret supervision of the poet. Benckendorff personally investigated the very unpleasant for Pushkin case "about the distribution of Andrey Chenier" and "Gavriiliada".
The perusal of private letters widely introduced into practice by Benckendorff in the 1930s drove the poet literally into a frenzy.
"The police open the letters of the husband to his wife and bring them to the tsar (a well-bred and local person) to read, and the tsar is not ashamed to admit that ...".
These lines were written as if in the expectation that both the tsar and Benckendorff would read them. Hard service, however, for the powerful of this world, and it is unlikely that the words of a person whose exclusivity both recognized slipped by without touching either the heart or consciousness.

Hornbeam in Keila Joy (Schloss Fall)

Count Alexander Khristoforovich Benckendorff died on a ship that was carrying him from Germany, where he was undergoing long-term treatment, to his homeland. He was over sixty.
The wife was waiting for the count in Falla, their family estate near Revel (now Tallinn). The ship has already brought the dead. It was the first grave in their cozy estate.
In the office of the Falls castle, he kept a wooden fragment left from the coffin of Alexander I, set in bronze in the form of a mausoleum.

Carl Kolman "Riot on the Senate Square".

On the wall, in addition to portraits of sovereigns, hung Kolman's famous watercolor "Rebellion on Senate Square."
Boulevard, generals with plumes, soldiers with white belts on dark uniforms, a monument to Peter the Great in cannon smoke ...
Something did not let go of the count if he kept this picture before his eyes. Maybe repentance, or maybe pride in the saved fatherland...
"The most faithful and unmistakable judgment of the public about the chief of the gendarmes will be at a time when he is gone," Benckendorff wrote about himself. But he hardly imagined how distant this time would be ...

Benkendorf Alexander Khristoforovich (1783-1844), count (1832), Russian military leader and statesman.

Born July 4, 1783 in the family of a nobleman from Livonia. He began his service in 1798 as a non-commissioned officer of the Semyonovsky Life Guards Regiment, fought in the Caucasus (1803), participated in the Napoleonic Wars (1806-1807), in the Turkish campaign (1809). In the Patriotic War of 1812, he showed outstanding qualities as a military general, fought in a partisan detachment, received the rank of major general, and was commandant of Moscow.

In 1819, Benckendorff was promoted to adjutant general and appointed chief of staff of the Guards Corps. In 1821, he submitted two memorandums to Alexander I: on secret societies and on the organization of the secret police, but the emperor ignored the reports.

On December 14, 1825, Benckendorff commanded part of the government troops, then was appointed a member of the commission of inquiry in the case of the Decembrists. Nicholas I appreciated the zeal of Benckendorff, appointing him chief of the gendarmes and head of the Third Department of His Imperial Majesty's own chancellery.

In addition to the diverse official duties, the emperor assigned to Benckendorff the censorship of the works of A. S. Pushkin. Wanting to create not a despised community of spies, but a respected and authoritative police ministry in the interests of the public good, Benckendorff invited employees from all walks of life to his service. But the excessive censorship severity and the extremely harsh attitude towards all those who seemed politically dangerous to Benckendorff did not arouse sympathy either for him or for his department.

As the commander of the Main Apartment, Benckendorff became a confidant of Nicholas I and constantly accompanied him on trips around Russia and abroad.

In 1832, Benckendorff received the title of count.