Nikolay Kamensky

Nikolay Kamensky
Count Nicholas Kamensky
Born	(1776-12-27)27 December 1776
Died	4 May 1811(1811-05-04) (aged 34) Odessa, Russian Empire
Allegiance	Russian Empire
Service/branch	Imperial Russian Army
Years of service	1787–1811
Rank	General of the Infantry
Battles/wars	French Revolutionary Wars Napoleonic Wars Finnish War Russo-Turkish War
Awards	Order of St. Andrew Order of St. George Order of St. Vladimir
Relations	Mikhail Kamensky (father)

Count Nikolay Mikhailovich Kamensky (27 December 1776 – 4 May 1811) was a Russian general who outlived his father, Field Marshal Mikhail Kamensky, by two years.

Nikolay and his elder brother Sergei were educated at a cadet school. In 1787, he was appointed Aide-de-camp to his father. Emperor Paul promoted him to Major General in 1799, the year when Kamensky chose to join Suvorov during the Swiss Campaign against Napoleon.

In the Battle of Austerlitz Kamensky, subordinate to Peter Bagration, lost 1,600 men and barely managed to escape alive. He distinguished himself at Eylau, for which he received the Order of Saint George. Thereupon he was sent with 8,000 soldiers to relieve the siege of Danzig but failed in his objective, losing as many as 1,500 men in the process. The following Battle of Heilsberg cost the lives of 1,700 soldiers under his command.

By the time the Finnish War — the most brilliant campaign of his career — broke out in 1808, Kamensky had a reputation for being reckless with his soldiers' lives. However, he was promoted to Full General in 1809 and achieved important successes against the Swedes at Kuortane and Oravais. It was he who came up with a daring plan of the Russian infantry's crossing the frozen Gulf of Bothnia from Finland towards Umeå and Åland, which forced Sweden to cede Finland to Tsar Alexander.