the lion of the russian army - Florida State University

Divans of Wallachia and Moldavia to rebuild and repair the bridges in the
Principalities. 130
Bagration considered “one of my most important responsibilities [was] to save
and protect [Wallachia].” Remembering the extent of exploitation and injustice in the
Principalities, Bagration endeavored to prevent similar occurrence in the future. He
gathered petitions and reports on the alleged mistreatment throughout the region and, in
late February 1810, he established a special commission to investigate and punish such
abuses. Two senior Russian officers, Major Generals Aleksey Bakhmetyev and Fedor
Nazimov, presided over it with instructions “to investigate each article of the petition,
request proof from the claimant, determine the guilty and immediately prosecute [the
perpetrators]” under the laws of the Russian empire. 131 Bagration assigned a group of
trustworthy officials to assist them and required them to dispatch two investigators to
determine facts on sight.
When he left the army in late March 1810, Bagration must have felt satisfied with
his achievements. Within six months, he had successfully waged a military campaign
against superior troops and conducted diplomatic negotiations with Porte. He had also
played an important role in preserving the Serbian independence in 1809. As a result of
his decisive actions at Rassevat and Silistra, Bagration diverted main Turkish forces from
Serbia and gave the Serbs a respite. He provided crucial financial and military aid to the
Serbs to sustain their independence. Bagration endeavored to revive the Serbian trust
towards Russia that was weakened by his predecessors in 1808-1809. By the time he left
the army, he succeeded in this mission and restored the Russo-Serbian relations. A joint
Russo-Serbian detachment was operating against the Turks and increasing financial and
military aid was directed to the Serbian forces. In addition, Bagration was actively
engaged in administrative reorganization of the Danubian Principalities. He had
personally supervised the creation of new government in Wallachia and was familiar with
its every detail. One of the most important of Bagration’s legacies was his attempt to
eradicate corruption and abuses from among the local officials. He dismissed the corrupt
130 Bagration to Kushnikov, 18 February 1810, Ibid., 85.
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