Fyodor Drizen

Baron Fyodor Vasilyevich Drizen (10 August 1781 – 30 September 1851) was a General Officer of the Russian Empire. Drizen was born in 1781 to the military officer and future Governor of Courland, Karl-Wilhelm-Heinrich von der Osten-Drizen, and his wife, Henrietta Albertina von Bellendorf. Drizen's family had, since the early 14th century, been settled in what is now northwestern Poland, with their lands in the vicinity of Drezdenko. In 1797, seeking greater professional success, Karl-Wilhelm Drizen moved his family from Brandenburg Prussia to the Russian Empire, where he would receive his position as governor. It was in this period that, beginning in 1797, the young Fyodor Drizen would establish himself in the Russian military. Accordingly, Drizen's military career began with his appointment to the position of ensign in the Preobrazhensky Regiment.
It was in the earlier conflicts of the Napoleonic Wars that Fyodor Drizen first distinguished himself, fighting at the battles of Austerlitz, Heilsberg, and Friedland. Consequently, in 1808 Drizen was promoted to the rank of colonel, while serving directly under Major General Alexander Tuchkov. By 1810, he was further promoted to the position of regimental chief of the Murom 21st Infantry Regiment.
During the Patriotic War of 1812, Drizen served as an officer in the Third Infantry Corps, under Nikolay Tuchkov. However, Drizen's service on the battlefield would come to an end in September of that same year. He was wounded at the Battle of Borodino, losing a significant portion of his left leg. Drizen was, in turn, replaced by Major Andrey von Fitinhoff, and was from then on considered to have been a hero of the battle.
Following his career during the Patriotic War, Drizen served in the Russian Empire's Ministry of War. He was, after almost a decade as War Minister of Special Assignments, made a lieutenant general in 1826, and was appointed as military commandant of Riga in January 1828. Drizen continued a distinguished career in military service into his later years, and was promoted to the position of General of the Infantry in 1845.
Drizen had five children:
Alexander Fedorovich Drizen (1824-1893) - Russian general, participant in the Russian-Turkish War of 1877-1878.
Vasily Fedorovich Drizen (1833-1903)
Nikolai Fedorovich Drizen (1837-?) - General of the Infantry, participant in the suppression of the Polish uprising of 1863
Paul F. Drizen (1842-1907)
Olga Feodorovna Drizen (1844-1913) - married Gustave Ye Struve
Baron Fyodor Vasilyevich Drizen died on 30 September 1851, in Riga.