Count Valentin Platonovich Musin-Pushkin was a Russian military and government official who reached the rank of Field Marshal.
Background
Scion of a large and distinguished noble family, Musin-Pushkin was the son of Count Platon Ivanovich (1698-1745) and Marfa Petrovna Cherkasskaya. His father had suffered under the reign of Empress Anna Ioannovna, having been falsely accused of disloyalty and underwent a long period of imprisonment and possible torture.
Career
Valentin enlisted into the Russian Imperial Guard in 1747 and would see service in the Seven Years" War, reaching the rank of 2nd Major of the Horse Guards. By 1769 he had been promoted to chamberlain. His military career was not neglected either.
A colonel by 1765, he saw active service in the Russo-Turkish War of 1768–1774 under his Father-in-Law General-in-chief Vasily Dolgorukov, commander of the 2nd (Crimean) Field Army.
He would be further promoted in 1782 to full general, and made an adjutant general the following year. The General managed to secure his future political position by befriending Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich, the future Paul of Russia.
In 1786 he was awarded the Andrew and made Vice-President of the War College, the commanding body of the Russian Imperial Army. With the outbreak of the Russo-Swedish War (1788-1790), General Musin-Pushkin was made Chief Commander of the Russian forces, numbering some 15,000 mentor
By 1790, Catherine was disappointed with his performance and had him replaced as commander by Count Ivan Saltykov.
Nevertheless, Musin-Pushkin continued to be showered with awards for his war service, including the Gold Sword for Bravery, the Vladimir, and Diamonds to his Saint Andrew"s Star. Under Paul, the Count was made Chief of the Chevalier Guard Regiment and Field Marshal in 1797 but would see no further military service before his death seven years later. His remains were interred in Simonov Monastery.
The latter would go own to have some success in the Diplomatic Corps during the first decades of the 19th century.
Membership
He served as a member of the honor guard at the coronation of Catherine the Great, and in turn was given a high rank in the civil service and rewarded part of the estate that had been confiscated from his father, along with 600 souls to work on lieutenant By 1787 he had been made a member of Catherine"s Council of Advisers.