Johann-Martin von Elmpt

Johann Martin Reichsgraf von Elmpt (, tr. ; 1725) was a military officer of the Russian Empire. A German nobleman who entered the Russian service after first serving in France, he went on to command troops in many of the Empire's wars during the reign of Catherine the Great. Biography Born in Kleve and descended from a family of , Johann was the son of Baron Kaspar von Elmpt (died 1730), and after receiving his initial education in his native town, he entered the service of the French Army. In 1749 he transferred into the Russian army at the rank of captain. He quickly advanced through the ranks, being promoted to colonel on 25 December 1755. Elmpt distinguished himself during the Prussian Campaigns of the Seven Years' War. He was appointed a brigadier, and then made a major-general on 2 April 1762. He served as quartermaster general for the field army, and performed a number of vital staff responsibilities, including the drawing up of military maps for Livonia and Courland, including plans for field camps and troop dispositions throughout the region. In 1763 he was awarded the Order of Saint Anna. With the formation of a field army in Glukhov under Pyotr Rumyantsev in 1768 to fight the Turks, Elmpt was made part of its command staff, but he transferred to another field army the following year. In September 1769, Elmpt and Mikhail Kamensky under orders from Alexander Mikhailovich Golitsyn, crossed a large force of Grenadier regiments over the Dniester river to assault the fortress at Khotyn, leading to a battle that decimated the Turkish forces there. Later Elmpt participated in the seizure of Iași, and commanded a special detachment of the main army stationed on the Dniester and Bug River. He was rewarded for these feats with the Order of Alexander Nevsky and a promotion to the rank of Lieutenant General. In 1772 Elmpt was a major commander of troops against the Bar Confederation, later commanding a corps guarding the borders with Sweden. Promoted yet again to full General in 1780, he would serve as commander of the Russian 3rd Division in the Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792). Elmpt's tense relationship with his Austrian counterpart General Gabriel von Splényi created problems in the military operations between the two armies. Rumyantsev intervened and made Elmpt give command of his division over to Major General Ernst Salignac. Elmpt returned to Riga claiming poor health.