The beginning of burials at the Commandant's Cemetery, located by the eastern facade of the Peter and Paul Cathedral, was marked in 1720 by the funeral of Roman Vilimovich Bruce (1668–1720) – a close associate of Peter I, belonging to the Russified branch of an ancient Scottish family.

Gravestone on the grave of Roman Bruce. Source www.funeral-spb.ru

R. V. Bruce commanded a company of the Preobrazhensky Regiment from 1695, participated in battles of the Northern War – in the capture of Swedish fortresses Noteburg (1702), Nien-Shanz (1703), Vyborg and Keksgolm (1710). On May 19, 1704, he was appointed the second ober-commandant of Saint Petersburg (the first was Colonel Baron Karl Ewald von Rönne). As the head of the fortress of Saint Petersburg, R. V. Bruce in 1704–1705 repelled three attacks on the city by the Swedish general Baron Georg Johan Maidel. In 1708, together with General-Admiral Fyodor Matveyevich Apraksin, he led the destruction of the expedition of Swedish Major General Baron Georg Lübeker, who tried to return Ingria to Sweden. In 1710, he was promoted to lieutenant general. Subsequently, he focused on the construction of the fortress, which later became known as the Peter and Paul Fortress. During Bruce's command, stone bastions were built instead of the original earthen ones, and a wooden Lutheran church of St. Anne was constructed within the fortress.

Yakov Vilimovich Bruce (1670–1735), the younger brother of Roman, was a military man, diplomat, engineer, and scientist, and one of Peter I’s closest associates. He headed the Manufacture and Mining Colleges, and oversaw the Moscow Civil Printing House. Appointed General Feldzeugmeister in 1710, he retired in 1726 with the rank of General Field Marshal. In 1721, he was elevated to the rank of count. He was reputed to be a sorcerer and warlock.

The funeral of R. Bruce, held on October 19, 1720, in the presence of Peter I, began the tradition of burying fortress commandants on its grounds. Of the thirty-two commandants, nineteen rest in the Commandant's Cemetery. During Peter’s reign, Colonel Mikhail Osipovich Chemezov and Brigadier Yakov Khristoforovich Bakhmeotov were buried there.

In 1842–1843, the cemetery was surrounded on three sides by a metal fence installed on a base of hewn limestone, separating it from the central alley and the garden near the Grand Duke’s burial vault. The last person buried in the cemetery was Infantry General, General-Adjutant Vladimir Nikolaevich Danilov (1852–1914), commandant of the fortress in 1913–1914.

In 1964 and 1979, archaeological excavations were conducted on the cemetery grounds (archaeologists A. D. and V. A. Grach). A cast-iron gravestone of the first fortress commandant was discovered, featuring elements of the Bruce family coat of arms – a lying unicorn with a shield crowned with a crown – and a Latin epitaph.

In 1980, restoration and landscaping of the cemetery were carried out according to a project by I. N. Benois. The ground level in the central part, where the 18th-century burials are located, was lowered to its original level. In the southern part, the 19th-century level was restored, while the northwestern part retained the modern level. All gravestones were placed on new bases, and previously lost gravestones were recreated. New marble slabs were installed on the graves of M. O. Chemezov and Y. Kh. Bakhmeotov.

Nineteen burials in the Commandant's Cemetery are federal monuments of significance.

Sources:

https://petersmonuments.ru/russia/memorials/komendantskoe-kladbishche-s-peterburg/