Nicholas Repnin

Born in Saint Petersburg, his parents were Prince Vasily Anikitovich Repnin and Daria Fedorovna Makarova. He was the grandson of Anikita Ivanovitch Repnin, who served during the reign of Emperor Peter I the Great.

14-year-old Prince Repnin served in the Imperial Russian Army under his father, during the Rhine Campaign of 1748, and subsequently resided for some time abroad, in Germany where he acquired "a thoroughly sound German education" and also in Paris. He also participated, in a subordinate capacity, in the Seven Years' War serving under Field Marshal Stepan Fyodorovich Apraksin. He distinguished himself in the battles of Groß-Jägersdorf, Königsberg and the siege of Küstrin. From 1759, he served in allied France, in the troops of Marshal Louis Georges Érasme de Contades and from 1760, having received the rank of colonel, he served under Count Zakhar Chernyshev, taking part, in particular, in the capture of Berlin that same year. In 1762, he received the rank of major general, and on September 22, 1762, he was awarded the Holstein Order of St. Anne.

Nikolai Repnin resigned his post as Russian envoy to lead troops against the Ottoman Empire in the Russo-Turkish War. Having settled his urgent affairs in Warsaw, Repnin left Poland, where he had been the de facto "king" for six years, and joined Prince Alexander Mikhailovich Golitsyn's forces, then stationed near Khotyn. The siege dragged on sluggishly. Participating in repelling repeated Turkish attempts to cross the Dniester throughout August, which limited his combat activities, Repnin languished in inaction, a state especially acute after the turbulent Polish life of recent years. On 9 September 1769, Khotyn was cleared by the Turks.

At the head of an independent command in Moldavia and Wallachia, he prevented a large Ottoman army from crossing the River Prut in 1770, distinguished himself at the actions of battle of Larga and Kagul, and captured Izmail and Kiliia.

A quarrel with the commander-in-chief, Count Pyotr Rumyantsev, who blamed him for the Turkish occupation of the fortress of Giurji, abandoned by the Russians. Insulted, Repnin requested leave from the army to go abroad, allegedly under the pretext of "poor health" in 1771. Between 1771 and 1774 he was on sick leave and resting. October 1, 1771 Repnin left for Germany. In the summer of 1772, he enjoyed the spas at Spa. In the autumn of 1772, Princess Izabela Czartoryska was in London, where Repnin traveled with her. For almost the entire year, Repnin was faced with the difficult task of organizing his financial affairs, which had by this time fallen into such disarray that a large loan seemed the only way to avoid complete ruin. Repnin planned to secure this loan in Holland, from the renowned banker Gop, for 120,000 rubles, with a 20-year repayment period. Count, Minister of foreign affairs, Nikita Panin was also brought in to assist with the arrangements. Repnin personally traveled to The Hague on this matter.

In 1774 he participated in the capture of Silistria and in the negotiations which led to the treaty of Küçük Kaynarca. In 1775–1776 Repnin and his factotum, Yakov Bulgakov, represented Russian interests at the Porte. On the outbreak of the War of the Bavarian Succession he led 30,000 men to Breslau, and at the subsequent congress of Teschen, where he was Russian plenipotentiary, compelled Austria to make peace with Prussia.

During the Russo-Turkish war (1787–1792) Repnin was, after Alexander Suvorov, the most successful of the Russian commanders. He defeated the Ottomans at Salcia, captured the whole camp of the seraskier, Cenaze Hasan Pasha, shut him up in Izmail, and was preparing to reduce the place when he was forbidden to do so because of his indecisiveness at the siege in 1789. After another unsuccessful siege by Pavel Potemkin, Samoylov, and de Ribas, Suvorov, appointed by Grigori Alexandrovich Potemkin, stormed Izmail. He was ambassador to the Ottoman Empire (1775–1776).

On the retirement of Potemkin in 1791, Repnin succeeded him as commander-in-chief, and immediately won the Battle of Măcin. The Ottomans signed the truce of Galaţi on 31 July (O.S. 11 August) 1791.