About the book: 2011 / Cavalry General Count Ivan Osipovich de Witt... Not a single Russian general during his lifetime was the subject of so many contradictory rumors and incredible conjectures . He is called Stirlitz of the 19th century. This man was at the same time a confidant of the Russian emperors and... Napoleon. He played an important role in the life of the poet Alexander Pushkin and the French writer Honore de Balzac. And his role in uncovering the Decembrist conspiracy still causes controversy among opponents and apologists of the Decembrist movement.