RUSSIAN MILITARY ENGINEERS IN THE PRUSSIAN CAMPAIGN OF 1757—1762

Abstract

The author studies the activity of Russian military engineers operating under the command of D. I. Debosket in the army of S. F. Apraksin on the territory of Prussia during the Seven Years' War. It is shown that as the province was occupied by Russian troops, the engineering tasks were changing: there was a transition from equipping the track infrastructure to restoring defensive facilities. Restoration work was complicated by a variety of circumstances, including the lack of military engineers in the field due to their presence at the front line, the limited possibility to engage the local population in the fortifications’ restoration, as well as poor funding for construction work. The research focuses on the active involvement of V. I. Suvorov, the governor of the province, in the restoration of fortification objects, in particular the Pillau fortress. The article describes the participation of Russian engineers in the rescue operation in the Labiau area in January 1761, which included the evacuation of local residents and their property from the settlements flooded by the storm. The last chord of the military engineers activity was ensuring withdrawal of Russian troops from Eastern Prussia in August 1762.