Khatov, Aleksandr Ilich

Khatov, Aleksandr Il’ich 

Born Dec. 28, 1780 (Jan. 8, 1781), in St. Petersburg; died Oct. 16 (28), 1846, in Tsarskoe Selo. Russian military writer. Infantry general (1845).

After graduating from the First Cadet Corps in 1797, Khatov served in his majesty’s retinue for quartermaster affairs (a unit that performed the functions of a general staff). He fought against France in 1805 and against Sweden in 1808 and 1809. In 1810, Khatov became director of a school for column leaders in St. Petersburg, where he taught fortification and tactics. Khatov became chief of the topographic section of the Quartermaster General’s Office in 1814 and a member of the Military Science Committee in 1820. From 1823 to 1826 he served as quartermaster general in the Main Headquarters, and from 1829 to 1845 he was a section chief in the Military Science Committee.

Between 1807 and 1810, Khatov published a two-volume work, General Tactical Experience, a compilation that borrowed heavily from the works of Frederick II and the French military writer Comte de Guibert, both of whose views on the conduct of war were already obsolete. Khatov was the author of a number of historical works and compiled maps of such areas as Finland, European Russia, and the Balkan Peninsula.