The result, as Mandt had predicted, was that his virus turned into pneumonia. He asked several of his generals to come and say goodbye to him and begged the tsarevich to say goodbye for him to the Guards, the army and, above all, to the heroic defenders of Sevastopol. ‘Tell them that in the other world I will continue to pray for them. I have always striven to work for their good. If it has not always succeeded, it was not for lack of goodwill, but for want of knowledge and ability. I beg them to forgive me.’104
Nicholas I died on the morning of 4 March 1855. Inevitably rumours spread that he had poisoned himself with Mandt’s assistance, but as in the case of his brother’s death, there is no concrete evidence to support these claims. Nicholas was born in 1796, at much the same time as a young James Wylie had become his father’s personal physician. He did at least reach his sixtieth year, a lifespan twelve years longer than that of the brother he had succeeded to the throne.
Nicholas’s dying wish that his soldiers should be cared for was in part carried out by his sister-in-law, the Grand Duchess Elena, wife of his youngest brother Michael, who although unhappily married, or perhaps as a result of this, became as dedicated as Florence Nightingale, saviour of British soldiers, to nursing the sick and wounded Russians on the battlefield.
Therefore, it must be said that the human suffering and loss of life resulting from nineteenth-century European wars did at least bring enlightenment to medical practice regardless of the nationality of the doctors and nurses whose dedication saved the lives of these hitherto neglected men.
Notes
1.Müller-Dietz, H., J. Wylie and the Medico-Chirurgical Academy in St Petersburg, p. 15.
2.Meiklejohn, The Rev. William, Tulliallan: Four Lads o’ Pairts, p. 1.
3.Sheriff Court Records of Clackmannan.
4.Müller-Dietz. H., p. 1
5.Meiklejohn, Rev. W., p. 15, note 7.
6.Ibid., p. 2.
7.1996 Scottish Medical Journal. Paper by A.A. Novik, V.I. Mazurov & P. d’A Semple. ‘The Life & Times of Sir James Wylie Bt., MD., 1768–1854’.
8.Doctor Clarke’s Travels in Russia, Tartary and Turkey.
9.Troyat, Henri. Catherine the Great, pp. 319–20.
10.Troyat, Henri, p. 311.
11.A lithotomy is a surgical procedure for removing stones from organs such as the bladder or kidney.
12.Müller-Dietz. H., p. 2.
13.Ibid.
14.Masson. F., Memoirs of Catherine II and the Court, pp. 145–8.
15.Palmer, A., Life of Alexander I, p. 30.
16.Almedingen, E.M., The Emperor Alexander I, p. 60.
17.Appleby, John H., Through the Looking-Glass: Scottish Doctors in Russia (1704–1854), pp. 60-61.
18.Troyat, H., Catherine the Great, pp. 322–3.
19.Appleby, J.H., p. 61.
20.Meiklejohn, Rev. W., p. 15.
21.Tooke, Life of Catherine II, Vol.1.
22.Palmer, A., p. 45.
23.Joyneville, C., Life and Times of Alexander I, Vol. III, p. 364.
24.Palmer, A., p. 65.
25.Palmer, A., p. 102.
26.Palmer, A., p. 109.
27.Guthrie, Matthew, Supplementary Tour, p. 48.
28.Palmer. A., p. 138.
29.Almedingen, E.M., The Emperor Alexander, p. 101.
30.Müller-Dietz, H., p. 3.
31.Adam, A., FRCS. Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, ed I. Levack and H. Dudley, 1992.
32.Thomson, Anthony Todd. Elements of Materia Medica and Therapeutics.
33.A verst = 3,500 yards, or about three quarters of a mile.
34.Palmer, A., p. 203.
35.Lieven, D., Russia against Napoleon, p. 157.
36.Ibid., p. 186.
37.Tolstoy, L., War and Peace, Part 2, p. 902.
38.Palmer, A., p. 248.
39.Palmer, A., p. 253.
40.Lieven, D., p. 286.
41.Palmer, A., p. 260.
42.Meiklejohn, the Rev. W., p. 6.
43.Müller-Dietz, H., p. 3.
44.Lieven, D., p. 416.
45.Fremont-Barnes, Gregory., The Napoleonic Wars, (4), p. 48.
46.Palmer, A., p. 273.
47.Lieven, D., p. 143.
48.Joyneville. C., Vol III. p. 26.
49.Meiklejohn, Rev. W., p. 9.
50.Meiklejohn, Rev. W., p. 16.
51.Palmer, A., pp. 296–7.
52.Ibid., p. 298.
53.Müller-Dietz, H., p. 7.
54.Novik, Mazurov, Semple, p. 119
55.Schuster, Norah H., Paper Records of British Medical Society, Vol. 61, February 1968, p. 185.
56.Palmer, A., p. 319.
57.Palmer, A., p. 324.
58.Joyneville, C., p. 196.
59.Palmer, A., p. 332.
60.£1 = approximately 473 roubles.
61.Novik, Mazurov, Semple, p. 118.
62.One rouble is divided into 100 copecks (kopeks).
63.Meiklejohn, Rev. W., p. 7.
64.Lyall, Robert, Travels in Russia, the Crimea, the Caucusus, and Georgia, Vol. II. pp. 425–6.
65.Meiklejohn, Rev. W., p. 5.
66.Ibid., p. 114.
67.Novik, Mazurov, Semple, p. 117.
68.Palmer, A., p. 344.
69.Almedingen, E.M., p. 175.
70.Almedingen, E.M., p. 181.
71.Joyneville, C., p. 275.
72.Pope-Hennessey, Una, Alexandra Memoir, pp. 44–5.
73.Palmer, A., p. 166
74.Joyneville, C., p. 318.
75.Lee, Doctor R., ‘The Last Days of Alexander I and the First Days of Nicholas I’ Item 206.
76.Palmer, A., p. 382.
77.Palmer, A., p. 77.
78.Joyneville, C., p. 347 (footnote).
79.Troubetzkoy, A.S., Imperial Legend, p. 126.
80.Russkaya Starina magazine, Vol. 73 (1892), p. 79.
81.Magazine editor suggests Severski.
82.Lee, R., p. 15.
83.This is the second time that Alexander’s fondness for Scottish reels, presumably taught to him by Wylie, is mentioned.
84.Ibid., p. 27.
85.The castle built at Alupka, in both English and Gothic style, now an art gallery and museum, and where Winston Churchill stayed during the Yalta Conference, was at that time only being planned.
86.Over four miles.
87.From Russkaya Starina, Vol. 3 (1892), p. 79.
88.Alexander I was born on 12 December 1777 (Julian calendar).
89.Appleby, J., The Caledonian Phalanx, Scots in Russia, p. 63.
90.Lee, R., p. 66.
91.Troubetzkoy, A.S., p. 191.
92.Troubetzkoy, A.S., p. 192.
93.Troubetzkoy, A.S., pp. 246–7.
94.Ibid.
95.Lee, R., p. 125.
96.One wonders if she made them stop to see it!
97.Meiklejohn, Rev. W., p. 12.
98.Müller-Dietz, H., p. 6.
99.Ibid.
100.Ibid., p. 7.
101.Meiklejohn, Rev. W., p. 12.
102.Ibid.
103.Novik, Mazurov, Semple, p. 119.
104.de Grunwald, C., Tsar Nicholas II, p. 284.
Bibliography
Almedingen, E.M. The Emperor Alexander 1, The Bodley Head, London 1964
Appleby, J.H. Through The Looking Glass: Scottish Doctors in Russia (1704–1854) The Caledonian Phalanx, British Library Document Supply Centre, Official Publications 18 Dec. 1987 GPB-8867
George, Hereford B, Napoleon’s Invasion of Russia, T Fisher Unwin, 1899
de Grunwald, Constantin, Tsar Nicholas I: The Life of an Absolute Monarch, The Alcuin Press, Welwyn Garden City, 1954
Hutchison, Sir R., MD., FRCP, A Medical Adventurer (biographical note on Sir James Wylie, Bt., MD 1758 to 1854)
Joynville,Life and Times of Alexander I, vols. 1–3, Elibron Classics (unabridged facsimile of the edition, Tinsley Brothers, London 1875)
Lancet, March 18 1854
Lee, Robert, FRCS, The Last Days of Alexander and the First Days of Nicholas (E
mperors of Russia) Richard Bentley, London 1854
Lieven, D., The Battle for Europe 1807 to 1814, Penguin 2009
Lincoln, W. Bruce., Nicholas I Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias, Northern Illinois University Press, 1989
Lyall, R. Travels in Russia, vol. ii. 1825, British and Foreign Medical Review, 1836
Meiklejohn, Rev. William, Four Lads o’Pairts, pub. privately 1990
Moss., Walter G., A History of Russia, vol. 1: To 1917, McGraw-Hill Primis Custom Publishing 2001
Mülller-Dietz, H. J., J. Wylie und die medico-chirurgische Akademie in St Petersburg, in Clio Medica 4, 1969
Novik, A.A. Mazurov, V.I., d’A., Semple, P., The Life and Times of Sir James Wylie Bt., MD. 1768–1854, Body Surgeon and Physician to the Tsar and Chief of the Russian Military Medical Department, pub privately (extract from Scottish Medical Journal 1996; 41: pp. 116–120)
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, OUP 2004
Palmer, A., Alexander I, Tsar of War and Peace, Weidenfield and Nicholson, London 1974
Robertson, Edna, Glasgow’ Doctor, Tuckwell Press, East Linton 1998
Russell, William Howard, The British Expedition to the Crimea, Elibron Classics Adamant Media Corporation 2005
Troubetzkoy, Alexis S, Imperial Legend, The Mysterious Disappearance of Tsar Alexander I, Arcade Publishing, New York 2002
Troyat, Henri, Caherine The Great, translated Joan Pinkham, First Meridian Printing 1994
Index
Aberdeen, University of 18, 25
Adrianople, Treaty of 190
Alexander Palace 30
Alexander 1, Tsar of Russia, xvi; as Grand Duke, 18–22, 28, 31, 34, 36–8; as Emperor, coronation of 39, 40–55, 62, 64–7, 71, 74,–4, 76–9, 81–84, 100, 105, 107–8, 110, 113, 116–26, 128–9, 131–5, 137–41, 144, 146–8, 150–6, 163, 165, 172–4, 176–78, 182, 185–6, 188–9, 194, 199, 201, 203
Alexander II 178
Alexander Nevaky Monastery 3, 20, 29, 139, 178
Alexandria, Grand Duchess 21 37
Alexis, son of Peter the Great 301
Alison, Archibald 91
Allen, William 126
Amelai, Princess of Baden 64
Amiens, Treaty of 41
Andreyevsky, Nikolai 178
Anna, Grand Duchess 28, 63
Anna, Feodorovna, Grand Duchess of Saxe-Coburg, wife of Grand Duke Constantine 27
Anna Khromov 176
Ansbach 42
Arakcheev, General Alexei, later Field Marshal 20, 32–33, 66, 117–18, 123–4
Archangel 122
Artenieff, Mr 186
Auerstadt, 49
Austerlitz, battle of 43, 47, 49, 50–1, 77
Austria 17, 41–4, 46, 50, 78, 87, 106–7, 124–5
Azov, Sea of xv, 119, 137–8, 149, 156, 171, 177
Baden 27, 41, 134
Bagration, Prince Pyotr 69
Baidar, valley of 155
Balaclava 155
Balashov, General 68
Balkans 125, 190
Baltic Sea 25–6, 40, 54
Barclay de Tolly, General 79, 82
Bartenstein 51
Bavaria 43, 81
Beauharnais Josephine 28, 38–9, 93, 97, 107
Beauharnais, Eugeène 76, 90
Beauharnais, Hortense 89, 90
Belaia Tserkof 129
Belvedere Palace 19
Bennigsen, General 32–4, 51, 67, 81
Berlin 8, 43, 50, 77
Bernadotte, Marshal Count 49, 74, 79, 81
Bessarabia 15, 182
Bessborough. family of 140
Black, Doctor Joseph 8
Black Sea..11, 13, 142, 144, 190
Blaine, Sir Gilbert 140
Blenheim Palace 97
Blücher, Marshjal 78, 81, 83, 96, 108
Bohemia 80
Bonaparte, Napoleon 28–9, 31, 40, 43–5, 48, 50–1, 53–4, 62, 65–70, 72, 74–5, 77–80, 83, 85, 88–9, 98, 107, 114, 120, 125, 149, 182, 185, 188, 194, 198
Borodino 69, 70, 78, 80, 188, 194, 198
Bosphorus 190
Boulogne 92
Breslau 163
Brunn (Brno) 43–4
Brunswick, Duke of 48–9
Brunswick, Princess Caroline of (wife of Prince Regent) 95
Busch, Johann 138
Cameron Charles 187
Canning 121
Cantillon 120
Caraman, Count 126
Carbonari 126, 151
Caspian Sea 189
Castlereagh, Viscount 83, 106, 108, 121
Cathcart, William Earl of 79, 91, 177
Cathedral of Assumption 189
Catherine II, the Great, Empress of Russia 10, 13, 14–15, 19, 24, 27–8, 36, 111, 113, 130, 132, 144, 149, 194, 202
Catherine Palace 131
Caucasus 143, 189, 190
Caulaincourt, General, Count Armand de 62, 66, 78, 86
Channing, Doctor William 3, 197, 199, 200
Charlotte Augusta, Princess of Wales 17
Charlotte, Queen of Britain, wife of George III 41
Charlottenberg, Palace. 50
Chernigov 142
Chertorzhskaya, Sophia 177
Clarence, William Duke of 92
Clark, Sir James 4
Conference of Vienna 105–6
Congress of Aix la Chapelle 120–1
Constantine, Grand Duke 13, 27, 31, 34, 45, 53, 90, 122, 171–2, 190
Constantinople. 13, 125–6, 142, 190
Continental System 54, 62, 66
Cossacks 70, 80, 85, 119, 166, 175
Courland 123
Cracow 16–17
Cramond 7, 122
Crichton, Dr Alexander 13, 57, 101–2, 193
Crimea 126, 140–1, 144, 146–156
Cronstadt 110
Cullen, Professor William 8
Czartoryski, Prince Adam 29, 41–2, 46, 185, 191–2
Czeitsch 45–6
Danube Principalities 125, 144, 189
Danzig 14
Dardanelles 190
Davout, Marshal 49
Decembrist Rising 180
Decembrists 189
Denmark 54
De Witt, Count 141
Diebitch, General, later Field Marshal 149, 151–3, 156–7, 160, 164, 190–1
Dolgoruky, Prince Peter 44
Dover 93
Dresden 77–9, 153
Drissa 69
Duc de Berri 124
Dunker, Johann Faritz 131
Dupré de St Maure M 125
Eckartsberg 49
Edinburgh Royal Infirmary 8
Edinburgh University 7–8, 111, 140
Edwards Mr 202
Edwards, Mrs 202
Elba 87–8
Eletsky Regiment 9, 203
Elizabeth I, Empress of Russia 30, 113, 131
Elizabeth, wife of Alexander 1, Empress of Russia 20–2, 27–8, 37–9, 47, 55, 64, 73, 105, 128, 131–4, 137–9, 141, 144, 146–7, 152, 156–8, 160–1, 164–6, 1767, 183, 185–6
Elizavetgrad 56
Elysée Palace 107
Enghien, Duc d’ 41
Erfurt 62, 64–6
Erskine, Dr Robert Keith 12
Escudier Madame 94, 99
Escudier, M. 94
Estonia 123, 130
Eupatoria 205
Fenshawe, Colonel, 18
Fath Ali, Shah of Persia 110
Fector Mr 93
Feodorovna, Princess Alexandra, wife of Nicholas I 122–3
Feodorovna, Maria, wife of Paul I, Empress of Russia 21, 27, 30, 37, 47, 130, 171, 173
Federov 158
Ferghasen, Professor 11
Finland 63, 122–3
Fontainbleau 86
Fontainbleau, Treaty of 87
Fortress of St Peter … St Paul 34, 173, 178, 184
Fourth Coalition 47–8
France 3, 41, 43, 56, 65–6, 75–7, 106–7, 115, 121, 123
Francis, I, Empe
ror of Austria 45–6, 78, 88, 106, 108, 127
Frankfurt 82
Frank, Johann Peters 57–8
Frederick Augustus, King of Saxony 106
Frederick Louis, Prince of Mecklenburg-Schwerin 48
Frederick Ludwig, Prince of Hohenlowe 48
Frederick the Great, King of Prussia 11, 43
Frederick William III, King of Prussia 14, 40, 43, 46, 49–54, 76–8, 83, 89, 93, 96, 105, 108, 122–3, 189
Friedland 51
Gagarin, Prince 164
Gagarina, Princess 30, 32
Gatchina 19, 66, 116
George III, King of Britain 31, 41, 63
German Principalities 41
Germany 82
Golitsyn, Prince Alexei 82, 125
Golitsyn, Princess Anna 150
Gothenburg 9
Grand Duke Alexander (later Alexander II) 205
Grand Duchess Elena, wife of Grand Duke Michael 206
Great Britain 41, 54, 66, 87, 106–7, 121
Gregorius, Patriarch 125
Gregory Prof. James 8
Greig, Admiral Alisky Samullovich 143, 148, 163, 182
Greig, Admiral Samuel 13, 143
Grieve, Dr 35
Grodno 128
Grudzinska, Countess Joanna 172
Gudin, Major–General 49
Gustavus, King of Sweden 21
Guthrie, Dr 35
Hahnemann, Samuel 151
Hamilton, James 8
Hanover 42
Hare, Mr 146
Hassenhausen 49
Heidelberg 107
Heilbronn 107
Helen (Elena) Grand Duchess 28, 40, 206
Henry, Prince of Prussia 49
Hermitage, the 91, 133, 194
Hesse 82
Hofberg Palace 105
Hohenlowe, Prince Frederick Ludwig 48
Holstein-Oldenburg 63
Holy Alliance 108, 123
Hôtel des Invalides, Paris 84
Hungary 43
Imperial Guard 45, 68, 85
Italian peninsula 124
Jassy, Treaty of 13, 15
Jena 48
Jersey, Frances Countess of 97
Joynville, C. 35
Kamchatka 66
Kammiony Island 73
Kankrin, Intendent General George 82–3
Kazan Cathedral 73, 75
Kharkov 142
Khromov, Simeon 176
Kiev 14, 118
Kincardine 5, 7, 26, 40, 80, 202
Kline, Dr 164
Konigsberg 40, 50–1