Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Todleben, Eduard Ivanovich

TODLEBEN, or Totleben, Eduard Ivanovich (1818–1884), Russian general, was born at Mittau, in Courland, on May 20, 1818. His parents, who seem to have been of German descent, were of the mercantile class, and he himself was intended for commerce, but a strong instinct led him to seek the career of a military engineer. He entered the school of engineers at St Petersburg in 1835, and passed from that into the army in 1838. In 1847 and the two following years he was employed, as captain of engineers, in the campaigns against Schamyl in the Caucasus, where he directed the siege operations against the principal mountain fortresses. On the outbreak of war between Russia and the Porte in 1853, he was placed at the head of the staff of General Schilder-Schuldner, by whom Silistria was besieged. This general being wounded, Todleben acted in his place until the siege was raised. He was then transferred to the Crimea. Sebastopol, while strongly fortified toward the sea, was almost unprotected on the land side. Todleben, though still only of colonel's rank, became the animating genius of the defence. By his advice the fleet was sunk, in order to blockade the mouth of the harbour, and the deficiency of fortifications on the land side was made good before the allies could take advantage of it. The construction of earthworks and redoubts was carried on with extreme rapidity, and to these was transferred, in great part, the artillery that had belonged to the fleet. In whatever direction the besiegers drew their lines, there Todleben met them with counterworks, until, with the arrival of heavy Russian reinforcements, the besiegers almost became the besieged. It was in these improvised operations by means of earthworks that Todleben's peculiar power and originality showed itself; he was not a great military leader in the wider sense, nor was he the creator of a great permanent system of defence like Vauban. But for the special problems of Russian warfare, both in 1854 and at a later epoch, he was exactly the man wanted. Until June 1855 he conducted the operations of defence at Sebastopol in person; he was then wounded in the foot, and at the operations which immediately preceded the fall of the fortress he was not present. When he recovered from his wounds he was employed in strengthening the fortifications at the mouth of the Dnieper, and also those of Cronstadt. In 1856 he visited England, where his merits were well understood. In 1860 he was appointed assistant to the grand-duke Nicholas, and he became subsequently chief of the department of engineers. For reasons which are not known he was given no command when war with Turkey began in 1877. It was not until the disasters before Plevna had heaped discredit upon the incompetent leaders of the Russian army that the soldier of Sebastopol was called to the front. Todleben saw that Plevna could not be taken by assault, and that it would be necessary to reduce it by drawing works round Osman Pasha, and cutting him off from communication with the other Turkish commanders. In due time Plevna fell. Todleben then undertook the siege of the Bulgarian fortresses. After the conclusion of preliminaries of peace, he was placed in command of the whole Russian army, and became responsible for the government and administration of the occupied districts. In the discharge of these duties he is said to have distinguished himself by his combined firmness and good temper in dealing both with Turkish authorities and with the native population. He received the highest military honours and commands when the war was over, and became governor of Odessa. But his health was broken; and after much suffering he died at a German watering-place in June 1884. He was buried with great solemnity at Sebastopol.