ALEXANDER I: (1777-1825) Emperor of Russia 1801-25. Alexander was also the first Russian King of Poland (1815-25) ...

ALEXANDER I: (1777-1825) Emperor of Russia 1801-25. Alexander was also the first Russian King of Poland (1815-25) and the first Russian Grand Duke of Finland (1809-25).
D.S., Aleksandr, as Emperor, in Cyrillic, one page, folio, n.p., 4th July 1825, in Cyrillic. The attractively penned manuscript document is a decree addressed to the Chapter of the Orders of Russia and confers Knighthoods on Cossack Captain Popov and Councillor Ogarkov and states, in part, 'In recompense for the aid given to the inhabitants of the Colony of Sarepta by Marshal of the Nobility for Kamyshin and Tsaritsyn, Cossack Captain Popov, in putting out the fire suffered by them in 1823, and the Member of the Moscow Mountain Board Titular Councillor Ogarkov, in recompense for the distinguished zeal shown in his work….We Most Graciously appoint them Knights, the former of the Order of the Apostolic Prince St. Vladimir, 4th Class, and the latter of the Order of St. Anne, 3rd Class', further commanding the Chapter to deliver to them the certificates and insignia of the orders. Countersigned at the foot in the Settlement District of the 1st and 2nd Carabineer Regiments. With a very small, insignificant area of paper loss to the upper left edge, not affecting the text or signature, VGAlexander I succeeded to the Russian throne following the assassination of his father, Emperor Paul I. Alexander ruled Russia during the chaotic period of the Napoleonic Wars and he changed his country's position relative to France on four occasions between 1804 and 1812 among neutrality, opposition and alliance. In 1805 he joined Britain in the War of the Third Coalition against Napoleon, but after the massive defeat at the Battle of Austerlitz he switched and formed an alliance with Napoleon by the Treaty of Tilsit (1807). He and Napoleon could never agree, especially about Poland, and the alliance had collapsed by 1810. Emperor Alexander I's greatest triumph came in 1812 as Napoleon's invasion of Russia proved a total disaster for the French.