the lion of the russian army - Florida State University

As diplomatic relations ended in stalemate, Russia and the Ottoman Empire began
concentrating their troops on the borders. In October 1806, Alexander ordered the
invasion and occupation of Bessarabia, Moldavia, and Wallachia. 5 Within next three
months, the Russian army under General Ivan Michelson quickly advanced through the
Principalities and drove the Turkish forces towards the Danube River. As his army
secured the control of Principalities, Alexander reinstated Constantine Ipsilanti as
hospodar of Wallachia, announcing that the Russian troops came to protect the local Slav
population against the Turks. The Russians also provided substantial financial and
military support to the Serbian insurgents.
The Turks meantime mobilized their forces and counterattacked in early 1807.
Grand Vizier Ibrahim Hilmi Pasha personally commanded the Turkish army which
crossed the Danube in late May 1807. However, the same month, the Janissaries revolted
in Istanbul to overthrow Sultan Selim II and paralyze the Turkish army. On 13 June 1807,
General Mikhail Miloradovich defeated the Turks in the battle of Obilesti and drove them
back across the Danube. On the Serbian front, the joint Russo-Serbian forces defeated the
Turks at Malanica and forced them to withdrew to Negotin. A formal agreement between
the Russians and the Serbs was signed in July 1807 and Alexander officially recognized
the Serbian state. A Russian regiment was sent to Belgrade and Konstantin Rodofinikin
was appointed to serve as the Russian representative in Belgrade. On the naval side,
Admiral Dmitry Senyavin defeated the Turkish fleet in a series of naval engagements in
the Aegean Sea to establish Russian dominance over the eastern Mediterranean. 6
At the same time, Russia suffered a major setback at the hands of Napoleon at the
battle of Friedland on 14 June 1807. The two emperors soon signed the treaty at Tilsit,
which called for a halt of the military operations in the Danube Valley while Napoleon
offered to act as mediator. Napoleon’s agreement with Russia only exasperated the
5 Alexander to Michelson, 4 November 1806, Petrov, Voina Rossii s Turtsiei, 1806-1812, (St.
Petersburg, 1885), I, 380-81.
6 Eugene Tarle, Tri ekspeditsii russkogo flota [Three Expeditions of the Russian Fleet],
(Moscow, 1956); Alexander Mikhailovsky-Danilevsky, Russo-Turkish War of 1806-1812, ed.
Alexander Mikaberidze, (West Chester, 2002), I, 60-80.
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