1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Menshikov, Alexander Sergeievich

MENSHIKOV, ALEXANDER SERGEIEVICH, Prince (1787–1869), great-grandson of the preceding, was born on the 11th of September 1787, and entered the Russian service as attaché to the embassy at Vienna. He accompanied the emperor Alexander throughout his campaigns against Napoleon, and retired from army service in 1823. He then devoted himself to naval matters, became an admiral in 1834, and put the Russian navy, which had fallen into decay during the reign of Alexander, on an efficient footing. At the time of the dispute as to the Holy Places he was sent on a special mission to Constantinople, and when the Crimean war broke out he was appointed commander-in-chief by land and sea. He commanded the Russian army at the Alma and in the field operations round Sevastopol. In March 1855 he was recalled, ostensibly and perhaps really, on account of failing health. He died on the 2nd of May 1869 at St Petersburg.