4th class St. George order of Major General Alexey Petrovich Melissino for the Siege of Izmail

Awarded on March 25, 1791 "for the excellent bravery shown during the storming of the fortress of Izmail with the extermination of the army that was there/за отличную храбрость, оказанную при штурме крепости Измаила, с истреблением бывшей там армии".

Gold, enamel.
Size 35 x 38mm.
Weight 3.92 g.

Medallions.

 

Today in the collection of State Historical Museum in Moscow.

 

Alexey Petrovich Melissino (1759 - 1813) was the only son of the outstanding artilleryman Pyotr Ivanovich Melissino and his wife Maria Dmitrievna. Immediately after birth he was enrolled in the guard regiment and at the age of 16, on July 21, 1777, he began active service as a sergeant. In 1783 he was promoted to captain of artillery. In 1789 he was transferred to the Sumy 1st Hussar Regiment with the rank of lieutenant colonel and took part with him in the Turkish War. For distinction during the Siege of Izmail on the proposal of Alexander Suvorov he was awarded the Order of St. George 4th class.
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In 1797 colonel Melissino was retired from service, but in 1800 he was again enrolled in the Elisavetgrad Hussar Regiment. In 1801 he was promoted to major general with the appointment of the chief of the Mariupol Hussar Regiment. In 1807 Major General Melissino was given the task of forming the Lubny Hussars. Appointed as his chief, he took part with the regiment in the Patriotic War of 1812 and on July 10, 1812 while commanding an independent detachment defeated the Saxon general Rainiernear the town of Yanov, for which he was awarded the Order of St. Anne 1st class/ On July 15 he captured in Kobrin a whole Austrian detachment of two thousand people with 8 guns and 4 banners. Being then in the vanguard of Lieutenant General Baron Saken Melissino valiantly participated in the battles at Gornostaevichi and Volkovysk. In 1813, he was in the rearguard of Miloradovich, who covered the retreat of the Russian army from Lutzen to Dresden. Under Bautzen Melissino was on the left flank and during the retreat of our army attacked the French cuirassiers twice.

On August 14, 1813 near Dresden Melissino attacked the French Guards infantry with desperate courage and was killed in action.

The general's widow Princess Kantakuzen searched for his body after his death but managed to find only the remains of a uniform with awards. The awards were then kept in the church crypt in the village Pugliai owned by the Melissino family. In early 1900s family donated his awards to the Museum of the Patriotic War of 1812. In 1930 awards were transferred to the State Historical Museum.​

 

The Siege of Izmail was a military investment fought in 1790 on the Black Sea during the Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792). The Russians were led by Alexander Suvorov, who had defeated the Ottomans at Kinburn, Ochakov, and Focsani. The Black Sea flotilla was commanded by the Spanish admiral José de Ribas.

In March 1790, the Russians began besieging Izmail, in the region of Budjak, which had a garrison of 40,000 soldiers. Suvorov had 31,000 troops and on the morning of 22 December 1790, the Russians began attacking the city. They bombarded Izmail until 3:00 am, and then stormed it at 5:30 am. The Russians advanced on the north, east, and west. The walls were weaker there than in other places, where it took Russian troops longer to attack. By 8:00 am. the Russians had entered the city. In total, the Ottoman forces had more than 26,000 killed with the whole garrison being killed, wounded, or captured. The Russian forces suffered only 4,330 casualties, out of which 1,815 were killed.​

To the victory was dedicated the anthem "Grom pobedy, razdavaysya!" (Let the thunder of victory sound!) which was an unofficial Russian national anthem in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Today it is commemorated as a Day of Military Honour in Russia.
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