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Contents • • • • • • • • Early career [ ] Mikhail Kutuzov was born in on 16 September 1745. His father, Lieutenant-General Illarion Matveevich Kutuzov, had served for 30 years with the Corps of Engineers, had seen action against the Turks and served under. Mikhail Kutuzov's mother came from the noble family of Beklemishev. Given his father's distinguished service and his mother's high birth, Kutuzov had contact with the imperial Romanov family from an early age.

In 1757, at the age of 12, Kutuzov entered as a cadet private. He quickly became popular with his peers and teachers alike, proving himself to be highly intelligent, and showed bravery in his school's numerous horse-races. Kutuzov studied military and civil subjects there, learned to speak French, German and English [ ] fluently, and later studied Polish, Swedish, and Turkish; his language skills served him well throughout his career. In October 1759, he became a corporal. In 1762, Kutuzov, now a captain, became part of the Astrakhan Infantry Regiment, then under the command of Colonel. Kutuzov studied Suvorov's style of command and learned how to be a good commander in battle.

Suvorov believed that an effective order should be simple, direct and concise, and that a commander should care deeply about the health and training of his soldiers. Kutuzov also adopted Suvorov's conviction that a commander should lead his troops from the front (instead of from the rear) to provide an example of bravery for the troops to follow. Suvorov also taught Kutuzov the importance of developing close relationships with those under his command. Kutuzov followed this advice to the benefit of his career. This advice contributed to Kutuzov's appointment as Commander-in-Chief in 1812. In late 1762 Kutuzov became the aide-de-camp to the military-governor of, the, in which role he proved himself a capable politician.

In 1768 Kutuzov fought in Poland, after the Polish —the Polish noble class—. There he captured a number of strong defensive positions and thereby proved his skill on the battlefield.

In October 1768 the declared war on the Russian Empress. Two years later, Kutuzov, now a major, joined the army of the soon-to-be-famous Count in the south to fight against the Turks. Though Kutuzov served valiantly in this campaign, he did not receive any medals, as another officer reported to Rumyantsev that Kutuzov mocked Rumyantsev behind his back. Rumyantsev had Lieutenant-Colonel Kutuzov transferred into Prince 's Russian Second Army fighting the Turks and the in the. During this campaign Kutuzov learned how to use the deadly cavalry, another skill which would prove useful in the defence of Russia against Napoleon's invading armies in 1812.

In 1773 he was ordered to storm the well-defended town of on the southern coast of the Crimean peninsula. When his troops' advance faltered, Kutuzov grabbed the fallen regimental standard and led the attack. While charging forward, he was shot in the left temple—an almost certainly fatal wound at the time.

The bullet went right through his head and exited near the right eye. However, Kutuzov slowly recovered, though frequently overcome by sharp pains and dizziness, and his right eye remained permanently twisted. He left the army later that year due to his wound. Kutuzov's pain did not subside, and so he decided to travel to Western Europe for better medical care.

He arrived in Berlin in 1774, where he spent much time with King of Prussia, who took great interest in Kutuzov. They spent long periods of time discussing tactics, weaponry, and uniforms. Kutuzov then travelled to, Holland and to London in England for further treatment. In London Kutuzov first learned of the.

He would later study the evolution of American general 's attrition campaign against the British. The American experience reinforced the lesson that Rumyantsev had already taught Kutuzov; that one does not need to win battles in order to win a war. Kutuzov returned to the Russian Army in 1776 and again served under Suvorov - in the Crimea - for the next six years. He learned that letting the common soldier use his natural intellect and initiative made for a more effective army. Suvorov also taught him how to use mobility in order to exploit the constantly changing situation on the battlefield. By 1782 Kutuzov had been promoted to brigadier general as Suvorov recognised Kutuzov's potential as a shrewd and intelligent.

Indeed, Suvorov wrote that he would not even have to tell Kutuzov what needed to be done in order for him to carry out his objective. In 1787 Kutuzov was again wounded in the left temple, in almost exactly the same place as before, and again doctors feared for his life. However, Kutuzov recovered, though his right eye was even more twisted than before and he had even worse head-pains. In 1784 he became a major general, in 1787 of the; and under Suvorov, whose disciple he became, he won considerable distinction in the, at the taking of,, and, and in the battles of (1789) and (July 1791).