Hardening of character: the Spartan habits of the famous military leader Alexander Suvorov

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

He is called one of the most outstanding military leaders in world history, a national hero, one of the founders of Russian military art. Alexander Suvorov did not lose a single battle, even with the numerical superiority of the enemy. Despite the highest military rank - Generalissimo - and the position he held in society, Suvorov led a very ascetic lifestyle and considered Spartan habits an obligatory attribute in the system of education and training of troops.

As a child, Alexander Suvorov was a weak and sickly child, so he decided to temper. Every day, in any weather, getting up long before dawn, he went outside and doused himself with icy water, regularly did gymnastics, ran, in the rain and in the cold he rode a horse. In addition, from the age of 10, Suvorov sat up reading books until nightfall. When he entered the service, he lived very modestly with the money allocated by his father, and bought books with the money he saved. Dreaming of a military career, from an early age he began to prepare himself for the hardships and hardships of wartime, weaning himself off a soft bed and getting used to getting along with small things. Suvorov deliberately developed Spartan habits, which soon became his way of life. He gave up these habits only in the last weeks of his life, being already terminally ill.

He made the same demands to the soldiers. When Suvorov received the Suzdal regiment at his disposal, he began to educate the Spartan habits of the soldiers. He believed that in peacetime they should be no worse prepared than in wartime. Therefore, the exercises were carried out in conditions close to the military, at any time of the day and in any weather.

In Russia he was considered an eccentric, and abroad he was called a madman behind his back. Many of his habits to foreigners really seemed more than incomprehensible and surprising. In difficult and long transitions, the commander slept right on the ground. And the habit of pouring cold water every day even to his compatriots seemed eccentric. All the more strange nobles of the 18th century imagined his rejection of any luxury goods. The commander did not like lush outfits and gold embroidery, preferring to spend most of his time in a military uniform.

Suvorov was unassuming in food and always tried to limit himself in the amount eaten. He could afford to drink a couple of glasses of vodka, but in order to know when to stop, he developed a special ritual. His orderly Prokhor Dubasov was obliged to clean up food and drink from the table if he saw that Suvorov was too heavy on drinks and snacks. Repeatedly he got it for this, in the hearts of the commander exclaimed: "" To which the orderly replied calmly: "". And the commander got up from the table with the words: ""

The commander could not deny himself only two excesses: the best varieties of black tea and English beer. Suvorov regularly subscribed to tea from Moscow and in the morning drank three cups of cream, but without rusks and bread. On fast days, he did without cream, and instead of beer he drank kvass. He was accompanied everywhere by his personal chef, who cooked cabbage soup, porridge, boiled beef, and sometimes roast of game and veal in clay pots. Suvorov said: "". As a rule, he refused dinner, replacing it with a few slices of lemon and sugar or three tablespoons of sweet wine jam.

The commander was a very devout man and every day he began and ended with a prayer. Suvorov always fasted, and on fasting days the basis of his diet was porridge, fish soup, stuffed pike and porcini mushrooms. And during Holy Week, there was nothing on his table except black tea. At the same time, the commander did not recognize silver and used the simplest cutlery - a pewter knife, spoon and fork with bone cuttings.

Outwardly, the commander did not give the impression of a physically strong person, but, despite his thinness, thanks to training and diet, fatigue, physical exertion, hunger and other difficulties in campaigns were much easier to endure than the most powerful-looking military. At the same time, he also monitored the healthy diet of his soldiers, recommending that the commanders pay attention to the quality of water and food, "".

There are so many myths about the legendary commander among the people that today it is already quite difficult to distinguish truth from fiction, and the facts of his biography from fictional anecdotes. 10 facts about Alexander Suvorov - a commander who did not lose a single battle