Career
He belongs to the "Essen" – bourgeois family from Pärnu. Essen"s only daughter, Alexandrine Essen (1816–1868), married count Pontus Stenbock-Fermor (1806–1866) in 1835, at which point they began using the joint name Essen-Stenbock-Fermor. Essen enlisted as a sergeant in the Life Cuirassier Regiment in 1787, and transferred to the Pavlovsky heir battalion in 1790.
He received promotions through the ranks, and in 1796 was promoted to lieutenant and transferred to the Life Guards Izmailovskiy Regiment.
In 1796 he was promoted to colonel and in 1798 was promoted to major-general, and became head of the Vyborg musketeer regiment. He was promoted to lieutenant general in 1800.
In August 1800, Essen was appointed military governor of Vyborg, Finland, and chief of the garrison of the Gorchakov regiment. In 1802 he was appointed head of the Vyborg and Shlisselbourg musketeer regiments.
In 1807 he was awarded the George, third class, for his actions in the Battle of Eylau.
Essen headed the 8th, 27th, and 4th Infantry Divisions of the army during 1816 and 1817, and was appointed military governor of Orenburg in 1817, and was appointed manager of the civil part of the province. In 1819, he was made a general of infantry. In 1834 he was awarded the Andrew for his service.
