Editing Tolstoy family (section)

==In the Napoleonic wars==
[[File:Ostermann-tolstoi.jpg|right|thumb|Count Alexander Ivanovich Ostermann-Tolstoy (1770–1857)]]
Two members of the family were active during the [[Napoleonic wars]]. Count '''[[Pyotr Aleksandrovich Tolstoy]]''' (1761–1844) served under [[Suvorov]] in wars against Poland and the [[Ottoman Empire]], was made a general-adjutant in 1797, went as an ambassador to [[Paris]] in 1807 and tried to persuade [[Alexander I of Russia|Alexander I]] to prepare for the war against France, without much success though. He served as the governor of [[St Petersburg]] and [[Kronstadt]] from 1828 until his death.

'''[[Alexander Ivanovich Ostermann-Tolstoy|Alexander Ivanovich Tolstoy]]''' (1770–1857), stemming from a collateral branch of the family, inherited the comital title and estates of [[Ivan Osterman|his childless uncle]], the last of the [[Osterman]]ns.

He first distinguished himself in the [[Battle of Czarnowo]] on the night and following morning of 23–24 December 1806, where under his command the 2nd Division of the Russian Army in Poland held out for fifteen hours against the whole army commanded by [[Napoleon]]. One of the most admired generals of the anti-Napoleonic coalition, he was rewarded for his courage in the battles at [[battle of Pultusk|Pultusk]] and [[battle of Eylau|Eylau]]. At [[Dobre Miasto|Guttstadt]] he was wounded so seriously that they feared for his life. In the great [[battle of Borodino]] he brilliantly commanded the key positions until he was shell-shocked and taken away from the battlefield. Ostermann-Tolstoy was once again wounded in the [[Battle of Bautzen (1813)|battle of Bautzen]] (1813) but did not give up command of his force. His crowning achievement was the [[battle of Kulm|victory at Kulm]] (August 30, 1813), which cost him amputation of the left arm. When the war was over, he quarreled with the Emperor, resigned and spent the rest of his life in Europe.