Ivan Gurieli enrolled in the Russian army in 1780 and received the rank of praporshchik in 1786. He took part in the Russo-Turkish War (1787–92) and the Polish campaign (1794). He was promoted to colonel on June 25, 1799, and to major general on May 16, 1803. He served as a commander of Volinsky musketeer regiment (1803–05) and a commandant of Vilno (now Vilnius, Lithuania) (1808–12). During Napoleon's invasion of Russia (1812), he led the Yekaterinburgsky Infantry Regiment and then the 1st Brigade within the 23rd Infantry Division and assumed the command of the same division after the Battle of Borodino. He took part in the battles of Tarutino, Vyazma (1812), Bautzen and Leipzig (1813). During the Battle of Paris (1814), he was the first of the allied commanders to assail the Montmartre Heights. Since 1816, Gurielov served as a commander of the 27th Division.