MEN-AT-ARMS SERIES

CJ1ie
ussi{ln~my
ofthe
apoleonic 'Wars
Text by ALBERT SEATON
Color plates by MICHAEL YOU ENS
 CJTie
ussian Q../ffmy
ofthe
apo/eonic'Wars
Text by ALBERT SEATON
Color plates by MICHAEL YOU ENS

m
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In the preparation of this text acknowledgement is

made to Opisanie Odezhdui Vooruzheniya Rossiiskikh
Voisk edited by Viskovatov (St Petersburg 1899-
1902) and L'Armee Russe by Bujac (Paris 1894). The
photographs are reproduced by courtesy of the
. Keeper, the Library of the Victoria and Albert
Museum (Photographer: Berkhamsted Photographic,
Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire). Grateful acknowledge-
ment is made to Macmillan Ltd. for permission to
reproduce extracts from the accounts of Sir Robert
Wilson and Sir Robert Porter, included in 1812
edited by Anthony Brett-James.

Printed in Great Britain

 CJ1ie ~sian ~my ofthe ~oleonic 'Wars

arms carrying a sword, an axe, and a musket or

Introduction pike.
The use of artillery field-pieces had first been
introduced in 1389, but it was not until 1550 that
Until the end of the sixteenth century there was a permanent artillery force came into being.
no standing army in times of peace in Russia. Artillerymen, however, like those elsewhere in
When danger threatened or a campaign was to western Europe, were not regarded as soldiers but
be mounted, the ruler ordered the nobility into merely as camp-following auxiliaries.
the field and these armed and provisioned their The reign of Boris Godunov and the 'Time of
own retainers and serfs. In consequence there was the Troubles' showed that the streltS} was little
no uniformity in organization, equipment, or more than a territorial militia unfit for European
dress; nor was the Principality of Moscow war. Large numbers of mercenary soldiers flocked
militarily strong enough to withstand invading to offer their services to Moscow - Germans,
armies, whether from out of Asia or out of Livonians, and Swedes predominant among them,
Europe.
Muscovy survived because of its privileged
position among the Russian principalities as the
tax-gatherer for the overlord Tartar, who held
dominion over the Slav lands as far west as the
Dnieper. The Mongol-Tartar Empire began
rapidly to decline with the separation of the
Golden Horde from the Mongols, while in the
west the Tartars were challenged by the growing
military power of Lithuania-Poland. It was
Ivan III who first threw off the Tartar yoke, but
by then the Golden Horde was breaking up into
the three separate Tartar khanates of the Crimea,
Kazan, and Astrakhan. Not until the accession of
Ivan IV (the Terrible) was the first body of Musco-
vite troops set up as a permanent establishment
in peace. This was the corps of streltS}, the strelets
being an archer or musketeer usually recruited
from the peasantry. The streltS} lived in barracks
and garrisoned Moscow and the frontier towns,
being responsible not only for defence but for
police, fire and watch duties.
The original streltS} organization was that of the
company and it was not until the mid-seventeenth
century that the many independent companies
were united into regiments. In all there were forty
regiments, each about 600 strong, the men-at- A grenadier of the Preobrazhensky Regiment, c. 1801
3
and these formed the officer and non-commis- seven infantry regiments, twenty-two were com-
sioned officer cadres for newly-raised cavalry, manded by colonels with German names, while
dragoon, and infantry regiments, organized and four of the remaining five had non-Russian names.
equipped on the Western pattern. Of the regi- The two colonels of dragoons were called Schnee-
ments founded in 1642, the Moskovsky continued wanz and Goltz, Goltz's regiment still being in
in service until 1792, and the Butirsky, under its existence in 1917 as I Moskovsky Dragoons. In
changed title of 13 Erivansky Grenadiers, until 1708 most of the original twenty-nine regiments
1917. When Peter the Great came to the throne in were given titles of the names of towns or pro-
1689, his predecessor Theodor had left him a vinces, usually where they were raised, and many
standing army of twenty-five regiments of cavalry of these were retained until the twentieth century.
and forty regiments of infantry. The only Imperial Tsarist Russian regiments
which could claim existence before this time were
certain cavalry who owed their earliest origins

'Peterthe (ireat to the 'town Cossack' levies ofSouth-west Muscovy

and the Ukraine, the Sumsky, Kharkovsky,
Izyumsky, Akhtirsky, and the Chernigovsky,
Peter the Great in his youth had played at Seversky, and Kievsky regiments.
soldiers, drilling and exercising his two companies In 1700 the new Russian Army was completely
of the Preobrazhensky and the Semenovsky. In defeated by Charles XII of Sweden on the Narva,
1689 and 169 I these two names were transferred with only the regiments of the Russian guard
to two of his newly formed guard regiments, while showing any great steadiness. Undeterred, the
the cannoniers of his childhood were formed into Tsar reorganized his forces, but continued to
the 1st Battery of the Artillery Brigade. of the place his trust in his infantry rather than in
Guard.
In 1697 Peter left on a tour of western Europe
and during his absence the streltsy mutinied, poss-
ibly incited to do so by Peter's sister Sophia, the
former Regent. The streltsy were already a political
power within the state and to this they owed their
bloody suppression on the Tsar's return. Their
remnants were disbanded and Peter determined
that many of the foreign mercenary regiments
should be abolished, their replacements being
found by a national conscription introduced in
1699. Only a proportion ,of the male population
was called to the colours for an unlimited period
of full-time service, which really meant for life.
(Not until fifty years later was the term of service
regulated to twenty-five years, this law, enacted
by the Empress Anne, remaining in force until
18 74.)
Peter's first conscription brought him only
32,000 recruits and these, drafted into twenty-
seven infantry and two dragoon regiments, were
formed into three infantry divisions under the
command of Weide, Repnin, and Galovin. But
Peter could not, and probably would not, rid Shabrack and bolster-covers used by (top) an
Infantry reghnental officer, and (bottol1l) an in-
himself of the foreign officers on whom he relied fantry field officer, c. 1796
for experience and instruction, for of the twenty-
4
artillery or mounted troops. By J 709, when the
Swedes were defeated by Peter at Poltava in the
Ukraine, the strength of, the Russian Army had
risen to 90,000 men, with fifty-three regiments of
infantry of the line and thirty-two of mounted
infantry dragoons. It had no light or heavy
cavalry.
In J 720 Peter the Great reformed his army once
more and the effect of these changes was still
apparent seventy years later at the time of the
apoleonic Wars.
The overall army strength was increased to
J 25,000 men, half of which were allocated to field

formations, the remainder providing garrison

troops and static installations. And so there were
forty-eight regiments of field and forty-eight of
garrison infantry; each regiment had two batta-
lions, each of four companies of musketeers,
together with a ninth (regimental) company of
grenadiers. A battalion was about 600 men strong
and four battalions (two regiments) formed a
corps.
Grenadiers of the Preobrazhensky, Selllenovsky, and
The mounted force numbered 40,000 of which Izlllallovsky Guard Reghnents, c. 1797
36,000 served in the field force. The whole of the
regular cavalry of forty-one regiment~ were of although it had taken under its wing the en-
dragoons, each regiment consisting of ten com- gineers, the sappers, and the miners. An artillery
panies of mounted infantry and one of mounted regiment might have as many as 11,000 men on its
grenadiers. strength, including six companies of cannoniers
Hussars formed no part of the army after J 707, (guns), a company of bombardiers (originally
the place of light cavalry being filled by mounted mortars and howitz'ers), and several companies of
Cossacks of the main hosts. There were originally miners and pontoniers. This was .additional to
two types of Cossack: the 'town Cossacks', what was known as 'battle artillery', the light guns
permanent bodies of troops raised by frontier belonging to infantry .and cavalry regiments,
Russian towns, these eventually being absorbed for each line regiment had three cannon or
into the regular cavalry; and the Cossacks of the mortars under its own command, and the Preo-
hosts (voiska) of the Don, the Terek, the Ural, and brazhensky and Semenovsky Guards each had
Siberia. These were warrior settler peoples who ten.
were obliged to provide the Tsar with mounted
troops in exchange for certain freedoms from
taxation and for the grant of common rights and
lands. Each Cossack from the hosts was responsible
early cighteenth-
for furnishing, at his own expense, his h0rse,
uniform, arms and equipment. Cossack ranks, Gentury Ghanges
methods and training were very different from
those of the regular army and, with his scant Peter the Great died in J 725 and, if one excepts
regard for formal discipline, the Cossack was the forming (in J 728) of a new engineer corps
viewed by his Russian brother as more than independent of the artillery, there were no further
unreliable. changes until the accession of the Empress Anne
The artillery arm was still little developed in 1730. That year a new guards infantry regiment
5
 Cossack banners. Left: the Ural Host;
bottom. right: the Ural Guard Squadron;
top right: the 1st and 2nd Chugusvsky
Regim.ents, c. 1798

was raised, the Izmailovsky, and a number of an additional, specialized skill. Nor were fusiliers
dragoon regiments were reformed as the Imperial necessarily armed with the fusil or light musket.
Horse Guards. . The value of Russian troops was still an un-
The Russian mounted arm had had very little known factor in Europe, for, although Peter had
success against the Turkish light cavalry. The overcome the Swedes at Poltava, within two years
Cossack was valueless for shock action against he suffered a near-disastrous defeat at the hands
enemy horse, and the Russian dragoon was better of the Turks on the Pruth. Anne intervened in the
trained as an infantry soldier than as a cavalry- War of the Polish Succession and fought another
man. The native Russian horse lacked weight, war against the Turks, this time in company with
bone and stamina compared with the Turkish- Austria as a Russian ally. But Russian successes
bred Arab. It was only at the prompting of the were comparatively trifling and it was left to the
Russian Field-Marshal Mtinnich that the Empress Empress Elisabeth (1741-62) to pit her armies
Anne agreed to the formation of three regiments against a European foe.
of heavy cuirassiers, equipped with a metal In 1753 the Russian line infantry regiments
helmet and breastplate and mounted on well-bred were reformed from a two- to a three-battalion
horses imported from Germany. An attempt was structure, each having three companies of fusiliers
made, too, to reform the Cossacks and use at least and one of grenadiers. Grenadier regiments on the
part of their number as cavalry by regrouping other hand remained on a two-battalion organiza-
many of their independent squadrons (sotni or tion with an additional company to each battalion,
hundreds) into regiments. making ten companies to the regiment. Garrison
It was during Anne's reign, too, that the regiments of infantry remained at two battalions
infantry grenadier changed his basic function each.
(although he retained his name) and became a Russian cavalry, too, was reorganized, and
musketeer-infantryman, grenade-throwing being between 1741 and 1759 twelve new hussar

6
 ..

Cavalry hebnets, I799

regiments were raised, the ranks being filled for gineers. Regimental artillery, permanently allo-
the most part by light cavalry enlisted from abroad. cated to infantry or cavalry regiments, had also
In 1756 nine existing Russian dragoon regiments been increased.
were re-formed as nine cuirassier regiments and The first regiment of engineers, an offshoot of
six regiments of horse grenadiers. Most mounted the artillery, was formed in 1728 of two com-
regiments had an establishment of five squadrons, panies of miners, two of sappers, and two con-
but the dragoons had six and the hussars had a struction companies.
loose company (half-squadron) organization which
varied by regiments: eight hussar regiments had
ten companies and four of them (two further
regiments had been raised) as many as twenty
G'atherine the (;reat
companies each.
During the eighteenth century Russian artillery During the Seven Years War (1756-63) Russian
developed rapidly. By 1757 an artillery regiment troops took the field against Frederick the Great's
had two battalions, each of a company of bom- Prussia. They enjoyed alternating fortunes, and
bardiers, manning howitzers and mortars, and distinguished themselves by their tenacity. It
four companies of carinoniers manning guns. appeared that Frederick must be finally defeated,
Each regiment had over ninety artillery pieces of when suddenly the Russian Empress Elisabeth
various types. In addition to the field army died. Her unstable successor, Peter III, an
artillery there were numerous regiments and admirer of the King of Prussia, hastened to make
parks of specialized artillery of siege-guns and peace, but within six months he had been deposed
howitzers. Presumably because the gunners were by his own German wife who subsequently
the principal users, the pontoon regiments became Catherine II, or Catherine the Great.
formed part of the artillery and not of the en- Catherine reigned from 1762 to 1796 and was
7
 regiments were raised, mainly from the Ukrainian
mounted militia, bringing the infantry strength
of the field army to sixty-two regiments of 132
battalions, totalling I I 1,000 men; but she reverted
to the old organization of two battalions to a
regiment, each of six companies. The fusilier
battalions were renamed musketeers (although
this was only a temporary redesignation) and each
had a grenadier company. The eighty-four
battalions of garrison infantry, mostly of six
companies, were given operational tasks, sixty-five
of them being allocated to frontier defence.
The cavalry, too, was reorganized once more
and in 1763 Catherine introduced carabineers -
cavalrymen armed with carbine and sword, but
differing from dragoons in that they carried no
bayonet. These were raised by converting five
dragoon and six horse grenadier regiments. To
replace the dragoon regiments thus lost, further
units were raised, mainly from the Ukraine,
bringing the total number of dragoon regiments
up to twenty-three. The five ancient 'town
Non-comtnissioned officer clerk and a private of a
Cossack' regiments, sometimes known as the
dragoon regiment, c. 1800 Cherkassy or Dnieper Cossacks, and the twelve
existing regiments of hussars, were converted to
Empress of all the Russias at the time of the eleven new hussar regiments and four lancer
French Revolution, and the Revolutionary and regiments. The three cavalry regiments, privately
Napoleonic Wars. Catherine claimed to be an maintained by the Hetman of the Ukraine
enlightened patron of the arts and sciences, as Cossacks, were taken over by the St Petersburg
indeed she was, and a social reformer, which, all Government. In the newly-reformed regiments
things considered, she was not. Her interests were the heavy cavalry and dragoons each had five
Russian and were centred on the aggrandizement squadrons, while the light cavalry (hussars
of Imperial Russia by political or military means, and uhlan lancers) had six. Each squadron
and she took a close interest in the strength and could be broken down into half-squadrons
organization of the Russian Army. (companies). After the reorganization there were
At the time of Catherine's accession the line in all, sixty regular cavalry regiments of 3 I 5
infantry in the field army consisted of fifty-three squadrons, totalling 50,000 men which did not,
regiments of 160 battalions, 80,000 men in all. of course, include the Cossack sotni or the Ukrainian
Garrison infantry comprised forty-seven regiments mounted militia.
of ninety-nine battalions, totalling 65,000 men. Under Catherine the artillery was expanded to
The cavalry had fifty-two regiments of 265 five regiments, one of bombardiers, two of
squadrons, amounting to 40,000 men, and thirty- cannoniers, and two of fusiliers. Each artillery
eight regiments of regular or territorial Ukrainian regiment had two battalions, each of five com-
Cossacks outside the so-called 'irregular' troops panies. The pontoniers, still only a company
of the main Don, Terek, and Siberian Hosts. strong, remained as part of the artillery. In 1793,
Together the regular infantry and cavalry made at the time of the French Revolutionary War, a
up 320,000 men. further seven battalions of bombardiers were
In the first two years of her reign Catherine raised, but not until 1794 was the first company
completely reformed her army. New infantry of horse artillery brought into existence.

8
 Throughout Catherine's long reign, the numeri-
cal strength of the Russian Army grew slowly but
steadily, particularly in the cavalry arm. The
guard cavalry regiments remained at five squad-
rons, but, after 1775, all cavalry was increased
to six squadrons except for the dragoons, which
were raised to ten, and the Cossack regiments
which had eight satni.
By 1790 the standing Russian Army had a
strength of half a million men. l

%sia makes
Wlarineurope
From the death of Peter the Great in 1725 until
the accession of Catherine the Great in 1762,
Russia lacked strong government. Most of the
monarchs were women and the succession was
usually disputed by force, the decision being
determined by the officers of the palace guards. The standard of an infantry grenadier regiment
of household troops with shaft crest and tassel,
Ultimate power rested in the guards regiments in c. 1800
St Petersburg.
Yet in spite of its internal weaknesses Imperial exchange for British gold, a force of 55,000
Russia remained a power to be reckoned with in Russian troops were to be concentrated on the
central and eastern Europe. This it owed to the East Prussian frontier. Hanover was, therefore,
strength of its standing army. to be protected from the Baltic.
From 1726 to the end of the Seven Years War In 1756 Frederick the Great made a pre-
in 1763 Russia remained allied to Austria, the emptive attack on Saxony because he believed
alliance being based on a mutual hostility to- that failure to do so would result in a joint offen-
wards the Ottoman Empire and a joint interest sive being launched on him by Austrian, Russian,
in dominating Poland. Russia again defeated the Saxon, and possibly French troops. The odds
Swedes in 1743 and was ceded part of Karelia. against Frederick were immense. In 1756 he had
The situation in Central Europe was changing, defeated the Saxons but the next year he failed
however, with the rising power of Prussia, whose against the Austrians, and the Russians invaded
monarch, Frederick the Great, with the backing East Prussia. In 1758 Britain, motivated by
of the French, had recently overrun Austrian opposition to France, changed sides; but Prussia
Silesia. Maria Theresa, the Austrian Empress, had no other ally. In August of that same year,
was determined to recover the lost provinces and however, the Prussians defeated the Russians at
she entered into agreements with London and Zorndorf in the bloodiest battle of the war, but
St Petersburg preparatory to a new war. Mean- this costly victory was of little comfort since that
while Frederick the Great, by his personal October Frederick lost once more to the Austrians
unpopularity, had lost much of his support in at Hochkirch in Saxony, and in the following
Versailles. Prussia's position had deteriorated year, in 1759, was decisively defeated by the
even further in that Britain, fearing Frederick's Russian commander, Saltykov. By 1760 Berlin
designs on Hanover, signed a treaty in 1755 with was occupied once again. Yet Prussia still con-
the Empress Elisabeth, by the terms of which, in tinued in the war, when a little more energy on
9
 Foot artillery. Left: officer's shabrack and horse ornalnent
holster-covers; right: a cOlnpany and a field officer's
epaulette

the part of the Russians, should have destroyed it. frontiers westwards to the Dvina and upper
The death of the Empress Elisabeth at the end Dnieper; the second, in 1793, took in most of
of 176 I saved Prussia. Her loss was keenly felt Belorussia, Volhynia, and Podolia; while the
in the Russian Army, for Elisabeth had interested third, in 1795, took Russia to the Niemen and the
herself in military matters and had gained much Bug and absorbed Lithuania and Podlesia into
popularity by restoring to Russia much of its the Empire. Poland disappeared, divided up
self-confidence and national pride. between Russia, Prussia, and Austria, and was not
The new Emperor, Peter III, born Karl Peter to re-emerge as a national state, except for a
Ulrich of Holstein, was a German admirer of brief Napoleonic interlude, until 1918.
Prussia. He ordered the immediate withdrawal of Peter the Great had been largely unsuccessful
all Russian troops from Germany, asking for in his wars against the Turks, but in 1738, after
nothing in return, since he was interested merely the Third Treaty of Vienna, Russia and Austria
in his native Holstein's quarrel with Denmark. had attempted to encroach once more on Turkish
To wage war against Denmark he needed territory. The Empress Anne's Russian troops
Frederick's neutrality. Within six months Peter invaded the Turkish North Black Sea littoral and
was dead, probably murdered by officers of the the Crimea. The Turko-Tartar resistance was
guard with the connivance of his wife, who had fierce, however, and Anne gained nothing except
herself crowned Catherine II. the cession of the port of Azov, giving to Russia
Catherine, although a German, was not pro- the control of the estuary of the Don.
Prussian. She made a peace with Frederick on Catherine was moved both by Russian interests
grounds of expediency, which cost her, however, and by personal ambition and vainglory. She
the friendship of France and Austria. But Cather- wanted to eliminate Turkey in the Black Sea area
ine's immediate interest was the elimination of and in the Balkans and even dreamed of herself
Poland. The first partition in 1772 took Russian as head of the Orthodox Greek Church in an
10
 Grenadier head-dress I8n-I6. Left: a non-commissioned
officer; right: two grenadiers

Islam-free Constantinople. The Turks, on the Russia. Under Potemkin, the Empress's favourite,
other hand, made anxious by the Russian threat Russian troops had little success until they
to dominate and eventually liquidate Poland, and stormed the great fortresses of Ochakov on the
incited by French diplomacy, decided to strike Dniester in 1788, and Izmail on the Danube in
before Russia should become too powerful. War 1790. The credit for these successes belonged to
was declared in 1768. Turkey, however, was the Suvorov, the outstanding general of tsarist
loser, for Russian troops speedily overran Mol- Russia.
davia and Wallachia and the Crimea, while
Russian men-of-war, partly officered and manned
by the British Navy, sailed from the Baltic to the
Black Sea and destroyed a Turkish fleet off the CJfie Influence ifc3uvorov
coast of Asia Minor. By the Treaty of Kuchuk
Kainarji in 1774, Russia returned to Turkey her Alexander Vasilevich Suvorov has become such a
conquests of Georgia, Moldavia, Wallachia, and legend both in tsarist and in communist Russia,
Bessarabia, but was given the control of the Kerch that it is difficult to establish the limitation of his
Straits and access into the Black Sea. talents. Born in 1730 he was, according to the
These gains, however, merely whetted the popular account, a puny and sickly child. He
appetite of Imperial Russia. Catherine, an appears to have had some education, for he could
adventuress and opportunist, annexed the Crimea write in French, German, and Polish tolerably
in 1784 and, on the death of Maria Theresa, well, and he was a great reader. He was supposed
hastened to come to an alliance with Joseph II of to have entered the army as a private soldier at
Austria. The Turkish Sultan, sufficiently pro- the age of fifteen, but was not commissioned as an
voked, declared war on Russia and fought a officer until nine years later, in April 1754. It is
successful campaign against both Austria and possible that this was in fact the case; on the other

II
 great stamina, coupled with an indolent nature
and a lack of individuality and initiative. Suvorov
was able to exploit the soldier's strength and to
minimize the effect of his weaknesses.
Training was reduced to that level which could
be understood by the illiterate of the meanest
intelligence and was reinforced by a host of easily
remembered maxims. This well suited the Russian
mentality. The most widely known of these - 'the
bullet is a fool, the bayonet is a fine fellow
(molodets)' - might be regarded as unsound
doctrine, but in fact it was based on the conditions
of the time. The Russian infantryman's musket
was slow to load and inaccurate when fired. The
praise of the bayonet made him more ready to
close with the enemy, and he fought best in close
column under the eyes of his officers. In some
respects Suvorov was ahead of his time in that all
training had to have a purpose. The relationship
between himself and his commanders, and in
particular between commanders and troops, were
easier and less formal than the harsh unthinking
Brigadier's shabrack and hol8ter-cover8 and a
general'8 embroidered in8ignia (until 17(6) methods used elsewhere in central Europe. And
he himself understood the value to the troops'
morale of the direct personal appeal.
hand it is not unlikely that his name was entered Suvorov was the author of two well-known
on the lists of the regiment when he was fifteen, books., The Science of Victory and The Seven Laws
but that he himself did not join until a later date, of War.
and then as a Fanenjunker or other-rank officer Although Suvorov is considered in Russia to be
aspirant. Aspiring guards officers were sometimes one of the world's greatest generals, it is doubtful
entered on the rolls of their regiments when they whether he was among the foremost captains.
were still in the cradle. Suvorov's strength lay in his sense of realism and
During the Seven Years War, Suvorov fought his ability to reduce the art of war to its essentials.
with distinction and was present when the He was a tactician and not a strategist and the
victorious Russian troops entered Berlin in basis of his tactics was that boldness always pays;
October 1760. By the end of the war, still in his his only formula was that of moving quickly to the
early thirties, he commanded a regiment and he attack. Flexibility was entirely lacking. Suvorov's
soon won renown for his insistence on realistic methods did much to improve the fighting
battle training, for he was an outstanding leader efficiency and the morale of the infantry; on the
of men. other hand, in typical Russian fashion, losses
Suvorov's success lay in his understanding of the meant nothing to him, for he would rather waste
characteristics and simple capabilities of Russian lives than powder. In front of the walls of Izmail
infantry. Two centuries of the Tartar yoke, serf- his order contained the words, 'to seize the fortress
dom, the absolute despotism of the Tsars, the by assault, without regard to losses'. By nature he
severity of the climate, and the harshness of living was entirely brutal.
conditions, had bred into the soldier passive Suvorov led the Russian troops against Poland
obstinacy, unthinking obedience, and an exag- and took Warsaw in October 1794, for which
gerated respect for rank. The Russian soldier - and Catherine the Great had him promoted to field-
this applied, too, to his officer - had courage and marshal. Two years later, when Paul came to the

12
throne, Suvorov was retired and exiled to the
country. For the Emperor Paul had strong
opinions on military matters and they were much
at variance with those of Suvorov.

Cj1ie (ia/china Gorps

Paul was Catherine the Great's eldest son and his
father was assumed to be Tsar Peter III, the
monarch who, after only six months' reign, was
murdered with the complicity of his own wife.
Paul had no sympathy and little affection for his
mother, while she had little regard for his talents,
being jealous and fearful in case he should replace
her. Because of the peculiarity of the precedents
and the law relating to the imperial succession,
the monarch at that time exercised the right to
nominate his or her successor. Paul suspected, not
without reason, that his mother Catherine
intended to disinherit him and nominate as her
successor Paul's eldest son (her own grandson)
Alexander Pavlevich. This preyed on his mind
and, resentful at his exclusion from the councils of An officer of the Hussar lJfe Guards, c. I7C)8
state, caused him to withdraw entirely from the
Imperial Court at the Winter Palace in St drum-beat. A corps of troops was stationed there
Petersburg. under his command and he was permitted to
Paul moved with his wife and immediate parade and drill this corps at his pleasure. By his
entourage (but not with his two eldest sons who direction, the training methods and the uniform
remained in the care of Catherine) to Gatchina, of the troops there were altered to conform to the
a town about fifty miles south-west of St Peters- Prussian pattern. The Tsarevich became largely
burg. There he remained until the forty-second absorbed in the minutiae of military rules and
year of his life. He was a curious man of a some- dress regulations, an interest which he passed on
what unstable temperament who could by turns to both of his sons, Alexander and Nicholas.
be suspicious, vindictive, cruel, liberal, and The military methods of this little Potsdam of
generous. He had great sympathy for the Poles the north were extremely harsh, even allowing for
and made no secret of his opposition to the war the conditions of the time. The Gatchina Colonel
being waged against them by his mother. He of Artillery was Arakcheev, a man who was later
regarded the French as oppressors of Europe and to be responsible for the pattern of Russian
disapproved of his mother's reluctance to enter military development for nearly a quarter of a
the Allied coalitions against the revolutionaries. century.
Paul was in the main pro-German and he ex-
pressed the greatest of admiration for the Prus-
sians. This gave rise to further contradictions, for
like his father and his great-grandfather he dearly Cj1ie emperor Paul
loved to play the soldier and he ran his household,
his suite, and the Gatchina Court, on Prussian The Empress Catherine the Great died suddenly
military lines. All activities were regulated by the without dictating her wishes as to the succession.

13
 a b c d e f

g h k

rn o p q r

s t u v w x

Banners of grenadier regirnents, c. 1798. (a) and (b) Pavlovsky, (c) and (d)
Ekaterinoslavsky, (e) and (f) Little Russian, (g) and (h) Sibirsky, (i) and
(j) St Petersburg, (k) and (I) Astrakhansky, (rn) and (n) Fanogorisky, (0)
and (p) Khersonsky, (q) and (r) Kievsky, (s) and (t) Moskovsky, (u) and (v)
Tavrichesky, (w) and (x) Caucasian

14
And so Paul came to the throne. The Gatchina
battalions, in their obsolete and cumbersome
Prussian-type uniforms, moved into the Winter
Palace.
Paul had long feared that instead of becoming
Tsar he would be imprisoned or murdered by
Catherine's successor. His suspicions were not
entirely baseless for there had been at least two
such murders in recent memory. Peter III and
Ivan VI had both been done to death at the
instigation of Paul's own mother. Nor were his
worries lighter when he came to the throne for he
continued to fear a usurper. He became increasingly
eccentric and his form of government was based
on a never-ending series of personal ukaz;y, many
liberal but most of them repressive. Although
hardly the champion of the serfs, he attempted to
restrict many of the abuses against them, and this
displeased the landowning nobility. He made no
secret of his dislike of the regiments of the guard,
and gave preference to officers of the Gatchina
corps. He enforced the Gatchina methods and
style of uniform on the rest of the army. Many of Ornate bridle and curb piece used by a cavalry
his actions were rational and some of them were officer of the guard; a cuirass and a cavalry
overtunic, 1797-1801
just, but he alienated too many factions and he
failed to make good his threat, in the interest of to Italy to help the Austrians against the French;
his own safety, to exile the imperial guard regi- he gave Suvorov the new rank of Generalissimus,
ments to the distant outposts of the Empire. He to befit his new dignity as the Allied Commander-
was subject, too, to great rages which made his in-Chief.
family and suite fear him. Suvorov, having crossed the Alps, took Milan
Russia's foreign policy under Paul, although not and Turin and won the battles of Trebbia and
irrational, became increasingly incoherent. Napo- Novi, preparatory to invading France. But, as he
leon had, on his way to Egypt, seized Malta from could not agree with the Austrians, he moved
the Grand Master of the Order of St John. This north into Switzerland to join a second Russian
incensed Paul and in 1798 he accepted, from the army under Korsakov. Meanwhile, however, the
Volhynian Priory of the Maltese Order, the Italian Jew, Massena, formerly in the ranks of the
Grand Mastership, introducing the new titles and Sardinian Army but now a high-ranking general
badges of the Order into the guards cavalry in the French revolutionary forces, defeated
corps. Great Britain succeeded in persuading Paul Korsakov near Zurich before Suvorov could
to enter the Second Coalition arrayed against the join him.
French. Paul gave a stately home and generous This moved Paul to anger. He recalled Suvorov
pension to Louis XVIII, the exiled Bourbon King and made a break with Austria as the author of
of France, against the time when he should be his misfortunes. He quarrelled with England over
returned to his rightful throne, and since Paul the British occupation of Malta and returned to
disapproved of Prussian reluctance to join the the policy initiated by Catherine the Great in the
coalition, he broke off diplomatic relations with earliest days of the Revolutionary War, signing
Berlin and concentrated an army under Kamensky with Sweden and Denmark a treaty of armed
against the Prussian border. In 1799 he recalled neutrality directed against Britain. The Bourbon
Suvorov from retirement and sent Russian troops pretender Louis XVIII was flung out of his

15
 Left: a non-conunissioned officer of the Belonissian
Hussars; right: a soldier of Tatarsky and a non-eotn-
tnissioned officer of Utovsky (Uthuanian) Cavalry

grace-and-favour estate at Mitau. By 180 I it was fascinated by the drill-ground. One of their
impossible to tell who was regarded by Paul as his greatest pleasures was in the shouting of military-
foe. Theoretically he was at war with France and style orders and in parades and uniforms. Like
he had broken off diplomatic relations with his father, Alexander became increasingly under
Austria. But he was ready to fight his ally England, the influence of Alexei Andreevich Arakcheev,
and had sent 20,000 Cossacks eastward to invade an artillery officer who had come to the Imperial
India. notice when at Gatchina. Arakcheev was a brutal
In March 180 I, by a palace coup in which and blunt martinet, although probably an honest
Pahlen, the Governor-General 'of St Petersburg, man, with considerable organizing abilities.
and a small group of army officers together with Being indifferent to the opinion of others, indeed
the Semenovsky Guards took part, Paul was going so far as to revel in his unpopularity, he
murdered. He was deposed, it is believed, with was blamed by the army for all Alexander's
the foreknowledge of his son and successor deficiencies.
Alexander. Alexander himself was friendly and modest,
going to great lengths to avoid giving offence, and
having actually contrived, when Catherine was
C]tie rJIrmy under alive, to remain on good terms with both the
Empress and his father. Exuding charm and

~/extlnder I grace, he was a secretive dissimulator and an

accomplished actor, somewhat weak and vacil-
lating, forming his opinions slowly and trusting no
Alexander had been a constant visitor to Gatchina one. Like his father, he could be both autocratic
when his father was still a grand duke, and he and and liberal. His mind was continually troubled,
his two brothers, Constantine and Nicholas, were possibly on account of his own part in the deposing

16
of his father. Like many of weak will, he could be By then Austria was out of thc war and Massena
extraordinarily obstinate. returned to the south, overrunning the whole of
Alexander wanted peace and he arranged the Italian mainland by the spring of 1806. The
tcrms with both the British and the French. The expeditionary force was evacuated.
Russian relationship was uneasy, however, with Alexander's attention reverted once more to
both of these powers. He flirted with Prussia Prussia, with whom he concluded a secret agree-
which had not been at war since 1795. The ment. On 26 September 1806 the King of Prussia
European peace was broken by the kidnapping sent an ultimatum to Napoleon demanding that
in 1804 of the Duc d'Enghien on Baden territory French troops quit German territory east of the
by French agents, and his subsequent murder. Rhine. Napoleon's reply was to march troops
For Napoleon rejected the Russian note of protest which inflicted twO successive defeats of the
with an insulting inquiry as to 'when Alexander Prussian Army at lena and AuersUidt. On 25
proposed to bring to justice the murderers of the October Napoleon entered Berlin and French
late Tsar'. The French crossed Prussian territory, troops occupied Prussian Poland as far east as
without leave, on their way to invade Austria. Warsaw. Russia was now directly vulnerable to
The Austrians were defeated at Vim in October the French Army which had arrived at its frontier.
of 1805, and the Russian forces under Prince On 26 December Bennigsen, a Hanoverian soldier
Kutuzov, a soldier of popularity and some dis- of fortune in command of the Russian forces,
tinction who had served under Suvorov at Izmail repulsed a French foray near Warsaw.
fifteen years before, retired into Moravia. Napo- Two months later Bennigsen met Napoleon
leon was already in Vienna and Alexander made again at Preussisch-Eylau in East Prussia. He
the journey to Olmtitz in Moravia to meet claimed a further repulse, whilc Napoleon
Francis I of Austria and insist that the cautious
Kutuzov stop his withdrawal and bring his troops
to battle. Kutuzov sulkily declined, and had the
conduct of operations taken from his hands by
Alexander and the Austrians.
The battle at Austerlitz began at 9.00 on a
wintry December day and lasted only two hours.
It was Napoleon's boast that out of thirty or more
battles, Austerlitz was the easiest and most
decisive of his career. The Russian troops ran
away, cursing the Austrians as they did so, and
both Alexander and Francis had to flee for their
lives. This was Alexander's lesson that war was
not to be learned on the parade-ground and that
he himself was without ability as a field com-
mander. After the battle he wept, blaming
Kutuzov for not having insisted more strongly on
avoiding battle.
Russian troops were not temperamentally
suited to fighting alongside allies, being by nature
suspicious and obstinate to the point of arrogance.
An earlier Anglo-Russian expeditionary force in
the Low Countries had been a failure. A second
Anglo-Russian expedition made up of 5,000
British and 13,000 Russians, together with a
Neapolitan army of 40,000, had more fortune in Troopers of the Kurlandsky and Pereyaslavsky Dragoon
1805 in that they cleared the French from Italy. Regiments, c. 1806

17
 Snow leopard skin, worn by officers of the
Hussar Guard RegiDlent; (right) black silk
furnishings for the officer's charger, c. 1801

regarded the battle as a French victory. The to be drawn into a coalition against Great Britain.
Russians had a numerical superiority yet the In 1809 Russia, encouraged by Napoleon to do so,
engagement cost them in casualties 26,000 dead. went to war with Sweden and occupied and
The Russian position had been much weakened annexed Swedish Finland. The war with Turkey
by a new war against Turkey. Pru sia had been in the Balkans dragged on until 1812. Only
overrun by the French, except in the north-east Austria dared to take up arms again against
corner. The British subsidy to Russia was inade- Napoleon.
quate and there was a lack of mutual trust
between London and St Petersburg. Alexander
was particularly irritated by British reluctance
(because of the Prussian seizure of Hanover) to C]lie I3tg ~mistice
afford any assistance to Prussia and London's
refusal to land British troops in northern Europe. Having asked Alexander in vain for a Romanov
Meanwhile Bennigsen's 50,000 Russians gave as his new bride, Napoleon turned to the Austrian
battle at Friedland in June 1807, but they were Habsburgs. It appeared that the relations between
decisively defeated by less than half their number France and Austria would henceforth be on a
of Frenchmen. Alexander asked Napoleon for more friendly footing. Alexander, however, was
peace. suspicious of the Franco-Austrian accord and,
The Treaty ofTilsit had far-reaching provisions. fearing dissension among his Polish subjects, was
A new state, the Polish Grand Duchy of Warsaw, sensitive to the new Polish Duchy set up by
was resurrected with the King of Saxony as its Napoleon on the Russian frontier. Russia was the
head. The Polish province of Bialystok went to main loser by the new anti-British alliance since
Russia. Prussia lost its Polish territories and all the main importer of the Empire's goods was
lands west of the Elbe. The rest of Europe was Britain, and the loss of customs revenue to the
18
government contributed to the steady depreciation
of the currency. At the end of 1810, in a fit of
pique against the French, St Petersburg replied
by the imposition of a heavy tax on the importa-
tion by land of luxury goods, which in fact were
mainly of French origin. Paris protested. In
December of that year and during January of 181 I
Napoleon annexed to France the whole of the
north German coast, including the Duchy of
Oldenburg, which belonged by marriage to
Alexander's sister, Catherine.
During 181 I the uneasy truce with Napoleon
became more strained and Alexander looked
about for allies. The Austrian royal house, linked
by marriage with France, was for the moment
disinterested. Prussia was too fearful. Russia did,
however, improve its relations with Sweden.
Meanwhile Kutuzov, in command in the south,
was ordered to come to terms with the Turks. By
the Treaty of Bucharest, Alexander abandoned
the Serbs to their fate and gave up his conquests
of Wallachia and Moldavia, keeping only Bess-
arabia, the eastern portion of Moldavia between Banners awarded to the Tavrichesky Grenadiers
the Dniester and the Pruth. Alexander then (top), and local district troops, c. 1800

looked to Britain for another alliance.

Alexander had made use of the remaining two The 170 first-line infantry regiments were
years of peace to improve the efficiency of his formed into twenty-eight divisions (six regiments
armed forces. In 1810 Arakcheev left the War to the division of which two were light infantry).
Ministry to undertake the reorganization of the Of these twenty-eight divisions, eighteen were
artillery and the supply of all warlike equipment. deployed in the west, four in Moldavia, three in
His successor as War Minister was a Livonian, Finland, two in the Caucasus, and one on the
Barclay de Tolly. Black Sea.
There had been some change in the field group- In addition to the 284,000 first-line infantry of
ing, in accordance with the Napoleonic pattern, the field force there were 103 garrison infantry
the tactical formation now being the division. battalions and 2 I 6 infantry battalions of the
The infantry of the field army was, by 1812, made reserve, in all another 230,000 men, organised into
up of 170 regiments of 5 I I battalions, there being eighteen reserve divisions, numbered from 30 to 47
three battalions to the regiment. 2 On mobiliza- inclusive. These divisions had a command and
tion, however, this number of active field batta- administrative, rather than a tactical, function;
lions was due to be reduced to 40 I, since the for the battalions were drafted into the field army
second battalion in each regiment was to find after the war started, and the reserve divisions
reinforcements to bring the first and third batta- eventually disbanded.
lions to full strength and throw off an elite In 181 I there were seventy regiments of regular
company, these companies being grouped into cavalry, totalling 440 squadrons, of which eighty-
new grenadier battalions. The remnant of the one squadrons formed the depot squadrons in
second battalion became the depot battalion for time of war. 3 The remaining 359 field formation
the mobilized regiment of two field battalions. A squadrons numbered 49,000 horse. These troops,
guard battalion at war strength numbered 764 including the guard and Ukrainian Cossacks, were
men, and one of the line 732. regular cavalry. The Emperor could easily raise,
19
 A cuirassier's arltls and accoutreltlents, c. 1801, and (right)
a cuirassier officer's cuirass, showing the breast-badge
and broadsword

however, a further 100,000 cavalry from the pontoon companies which, by 1812, had been
Cossack hosts, at least eighty-two regiments from taken over from the artillery.
the Don, ten from the Black Sea, fifteen from the In all the Russian Army in 1812 numbered
Ukraine, and more elsewhere. I t was to these 700,000 men not including the Cossack hosts or
so-called 'cavalry irregulars', particularly to the the opolchenie, the home guard militia.
Cossacks of the Don, that Kutuzov owed much of In the early summer of 1812 the troops in
his success during the French retreat in 1812 and western Russia were deployed in three armies.
181 3. The first, under Barclay de Tolly (who still
There were twelve regular cavalry regiments in retained his post as Minister of War), of six
Moldavia, two in Finland, and three in the infantry corps and four of cavalry, was made up
Caucasus. The remaining fifty-three were in the of 127,000 men and 500 guns. The second, under
west. Bagration, of two infantry corps and two of
The artillery totalled 159 batteries/companies cavalry, had only 45,000 men and 200 guns, while
of which thirty-two were depot companies. 4 Each the third, under Tormazov, of three small corps
company of foot artillery was 250 men strong and and a corps of cavalry, totalled 46,000 men and
was equipped with twelve guns. Horse artillery 160 guns. 5
batteries usually varied by designation. Heavy
batteries had four twenty-pounders and eight
twelve-pounders, while light batteries had four
twelve-pounders and eight six-pounders. Divi- C]1ie'War of1812
sional artillery brigades normally had one heavy
and one light company. The last approach to reason was made by the
The engineer corps comprised twenty-four Tsar to the French Ambassador, General Lauri-
companies of pioneers and the same number of ston, in April of that year. Alexander said that he
20
was prepared to accept the indemnity offered by
France to the Duke of Oldenburg and would
modify the Russian customs system which dis-
criminated against French imports. On the other
hand, he insisted on freedom to trade with neutrals
as he thought fit and, fearful for his own security,
demanded that French troops should evacuate
Swedish Pomerania and Prussia. He went so far
as to say that if there was any reinforcement of
the French garrisons on the Vistula he would
consider this to be an act of war.
Napoleon made no reply to these demands but
kept up diplomatic activity merely to gain time,
for he had already decided to invade Russia. In
May the French Emperor arrived in Dresden
preparatory to taking over the field command.
Alexander was already at Vilna with his armies.
Against the Russian covering forces of about
225,000, Napoleon's Grand Army numbered over
500,000, but only a half were Frenchmen. The
remainder of the force were Germans, Poles,
I talians, Spaniards, Portuguese, and Croats,
Non-e:oDunissioned officer and pdvates of 24, 25, and 26
many of them doubtful and unwilling allies. On Eger Reghnents, in walking out, undress, and parade
24June 1812, without a formal declaration of war, unif'onn, c. 1807
the Grand Army crossed the Niemen on its way
into Russia. petitioned the Tsar that he should leave the army
Alexander's presence at the field headquarters and return to his capital for, they rightly argued,
was an embarrassment to the Russian High Com- the supreme command should be given only to a
mand. No Russian Commander-in-Chief had subject whom the sovereign would be free to
been appointed. Kutuzov was still in the south dismiss, should it be necessary. Otherwise the
and Alexander had heartily disliked him from the monarch would bear the responsibility, in the eyes
day of Austerlitz. In default, the mantle fell on of his peoples, for defeats which none could avoid.
Barclay de Tolly, the War Minister who, at this Remembering Austerlitz, Alexander left, firstly
time, was also the commander of 1 Army, by far for Moscow and then for St Petersburg.
the largest in the field. But, as the Emperor's Barclay sent Wittgenstein's corps towards the
minister, he had to refer all his orders to Alexander. Baltic to cover the Dvina and approaches to the
Alexander lacked a practical mind, and was capital, and Napoleon followed suit by detaching
later to become obsessed with mysticism. He was 70,000 men to the north under Macdonald and
continually seeking a new revolutionary approach Oudinot. These troops formed what was in effect
to warfare and a solution of the military problems another theatre. An Austrian corps faced Torma-
of the day. These were provided by Pfuel, a zov in Volhynia. Yet further to the south Admiral
Prussian colonel in the Russian service who, much Chichagov with 35,000 men was still in Moravia.
to the irritation of Barclay de Tolly's staff, The main campaign was to be fought in western
advocated a huge defensive bastion to be set up and central Russia, to the north of the Pripet
on the banks of the Drissa. Alexander had been so Marshes.
impressed with the proposal that thousands of As Barclay showed no inclination to stand and
workmen had been employed excavating earth- fight, but retired steadily eastwards, Napoleon
works. The ideas and the defences had no bearing tried to cut off Bagration and prevent his rejoin-
on the war. Arakcheev, Balashev, and Shishkov ing Barclay by thrusting Davout's I French Corps
21
 between the two armies. It seems likely that
Bagration would have been destroyed if Jerome
Bonaparte, Napoleon's brother, had acted with
more dispatch. As it was, Bagration escaped by
marching steadily to the south-east, and after a
circuitous passage he joined Barclay in Smolensk
at the beginning of August.
Early in July, when Bagration believed himself
to be isolated and surrounded, he wrote to
Arakcheev urging in the bluntest terms that
Barclay should attack in the centre and not rely
on the defences of 'Mr Pfuel', for these, said
Bagration, would surely be outflanked. Con-
demning the Russians for re.treating like Prussians
(the Prussians were held in little regard as soldiers
at this time), Bagration used strong language,
judging, but not naming, the man who ordered
the withdrawal as a traitor to the Tsar and the
country. Bagration had little idea of the enemy
strength facing the Russians; he himself believed
it insignificant. In fact there can be no doubt that
Barclay, and Kutuzov after him, were right in
withdrawing. But the discontent that Bagration
voiced was widespread, and made the corps
commander Constantine, Alexander's brother,
ask whether Barclay, intent on sacrificing the
whole Empire, was bound for the White Sea.
In the second week in August Napoleon arrived
at Smolensk where Barclay was drawn up await-
ing him. By then the strength of the French force
had shrunk to about 200,000 men, thinned by the
corps detached to the north and south, by the
many stragglers and deserters, particularly among
the non-French element, and by heat and sickness
casualties. Some fighting had taken place on the
distant northern and southern flanks, with results
by no means unfavourable to the Russians, for
Wittgenstein gave a good account of himself at
the battle of Polotsk while Tormazov pinned down
the Austrian corps as well as Reynier's French
corps sent to extricate it. Against his inclination
and judgement Barclay decided to give battle.
Shortly before the Battle of Smolensk was
fought, General Sir Robert Wilson, with the
British Military Commission serving in Russia,
arrived at the scene of operations, and he has left
some revealing descriptions of his impressions of
the Russian soldier at this time. Wilson might be
Trtunpeter of the Marlupol Hussar Regianent, c. I80I judged to be a Russophil, for he could hardly have
22
Cannonier and company officer of foot artillery, 1808 A miner and a pionier from 1 Pionier Regiment, c. 1806

survived in this appointment if he were not. Some Another Englishman, Robert Porter, was much
of his comment probably has an underlying pro- intrigued by what he saw of the free Cossacks of
paganda theme in that it was meant to endear the the Don Host, in which each trooper furnished at
Russian ally to a British public, which in the past his own expense horse, uniform, and arms. Of
was none too sure whether the Russian was friend them Porter says:
or foe. 'Their persons, air, and appointments and the
Wilson describes the Russian infantrymen as animals on which they are mounted, seem so
'between the ages of eighteen and forty, short, totally at variance, that you can hardly suppose
stocky and strong, inured to weather and hard- a reason for so unequal a union. The men are
ships and the scantiest of food, accustomed to robust and fit for service; their horses appear
laborious toils and the carriage of heavy burthens; completely the reverse; mean in shape and
ferocious but disciplined; obstinately brave, slouching in motion, every limb speaks of
patient, docile and obedient; devoted to their languor and every moment you expect to see
sovereign, their chief and their country'. All of them drop down dead under their heavy
this was undoubtedly true. burthen; but so false are these shows, that there
'The Russian soldier, continues Wilson, is is not a more hardy animal existing; it will travel
extremely subordinate and attached to his incalculable journeys and remain exposed to the
officer, who treats him with a peculiar kindness heat or cold, day and night, without manifesting
and not as a machine, but as a reasonable being. any sense of inconvenience. They never know
Punishment is not so frequent as in other armies, the luxury of a snug stable and a well littered
nor is it so very severe. The Russian officer, bed, nor ever enjoy the comfort of a currycomb
although frequently making the greatest physical or a wisp of straw. Their sustenance is of the
exertion, is, however, inclined to indolent habits most scanty sort.'
when not on duty, he loves his sleep after food
and dislikes to walk or ride far. No troops can
and do defend so well in retreat.'
23
 :from
c:Smolensk to CJ3orodino
Since Barclay was insistent that he should first
secure his withdrawal route to Moscow before
accepting battle, he dispatched Bagration's
2 Army to Dorogobuzh, about eight miles further
east. Raevsky's 7 Corps inside Smolensk was
relieved by Dokhturov's 6 Corps.
On the afternoon of 17 August Napoleon
directed Ney, Davout, and Poniatowsky against
the defences in front of the suburbs and before
evening had reached the city walls. By nightfall
much of Smolensk was on fire and Russian losses
had been heavy - estimated at 20,000. Barclay de
Tolly gave the order for the retreat to be resumed
and by daybreak the Russian columns were
already several miles to the east. The next day,
on the Valutina plateau due east of Smolensk, Kettle-drununers from the Sibirsky, Orenburgsky, and
Barclay was attacked again by Ney. If Junot had Ingermanlandsky Dragoon Regiments, c. 1801
co-operated in the outflanking movement Barclay
would have lost a large part of his remaining willed, had in his time been a commander of
100,000 men. distinction. His name was linked with Suvorov,
Barclay de Tolly was in a precarious personal dead twelve years before, and he had seen long
position vis-a-vis both Russian generals and troops. service against the French and the Turks. But now
Although nominally in command, he was junior he was a few years short of his seventieth birthday,
to Bagration. The Russian is chauvinistic and too sick and prematurely old. Too gross to sit a horse,
ready to cry treason, and no one is more sus- he travelled everywhere by carriage, and his
picious of strangers and foreigners. As a Livonian, indifferent health caused him to sleep eighteen
Barclay was regarded as a foreigner, for it is said hours a day.
that he was more fluent in German than in Napoleon, too, had lost much of his fire and,
Russian. There were of course a great number of as an Emperor, had lost touch with some of the
Livonian and German officers in the service of the realities of war. His main error, however, lay in
Tsar, some of them corps commanders, so that his lack of a political aim, for in invading Russia
Bagration, Barclay's most outspoken critic, who he had intended no more than teaching Alexander
bore the non-Russian title of the royal house of a sharp military lesson that the man of destiny
Georgia, complained that 'there were so many could not be defied. He had hoped to do this in
Germans that a Russian could not breathe'. And one short campaign, ·possibly in one or two
so on 29 August Prince Kutuzov, a man of great pitched battles. Napoleon believed, in company
popularity in the Russian Army, arrived to take with many European statesmen that as soon as
over the post of Commander-in-Chief in the West. the Grand Army had made a deep penetration
His arrival restored, albeit temporarily, the morale into Russia, Alexander would submit, particularly
of the tired and dispirited troops. Barclay returned if Moscow appeared to be threatened. But, in fact,
to the command of I Army. the French Emperor had not been able to bring
Kutusov, who was both cautious and strong- the elusive Barclay to battle, except for the un-

24
 Ryadovoi, Guards Cavalry Corps, everyday unHonn, 1799""1800

MICHAel YQUENS
A
 1 Fusilier, Kievsky Grenadier RegiJnent,
winter field service uniforlD, 1797-1801
2 Nestroevoi Serzhant, Infantry RegilDent,
walking-out dress, 1786-«)6
3 St Petersburg Grenadier, winter general
service uniforlD, 1808

B MICHAEL YOUENS
 1 Officer of Horse Artillery, SUIl1mer
general service uniform, 1797-1801
2 Infantry General, summer parade uniform,
1808-10
3 Unter-Ofitser, SUII1sky Hussars, summer
parade dress, 1797-1801

MICHAel YOUENS
c
1 BOD1bardir, Foot Artillery,
sununer field service
unifonn, 1808-9
2 Unter-Ofitser, 8 Eger
Reghnent, winter
parade unifonn, 1802
3 Ryadovoi of Uhlans,
Tsarevich Konstantin
Pavlovich's ReglD1ent,
undress uniforD1, 1803-0

MICHAEL YOUENS
 Litavrshchik, Glukhovsky Cuirassiers, cerelnomal parade uniform, I802-3

MICHAEL YOUENS
E
1 Konduktor, Engineer Corps, everyday
umdfornn, 1812-16
2 Trooper, Tartar Horse Reginnent, winter
field service umdfornn, 1803-6
3 Unter-Ofitser, Balaclava Greek Infantry
Battalion, cerennonial dress, 1797-1830

MICHAel YOU ENS

 1 Unter-Ofitser, z4 Eger Regiment, walking-
out dress, 1806-7
2 Ober-Ofitser, Kirnburnsky Dragoons,
winter parade uniform, 1812-14
3 Ryadovoi, LiHyandsky (Livonian Horse-
Eger Regiment, winter parade uniform,
181 3-14

MICHAEL YOUENS
G
 :IBombardir, Horse Artillery, winter
parade uniform, :18:14-:16
2 Pontomer, Pontoon Regiment, field
service unifonn, :1805-'7
3 Unter-Ofitser, Astrakhan Cuirassiers,
winter cerelDomal parade uqiforlD,
:18:12-:14

:I

H MICHAEl VOUENS
 A hussar's head-dress, a saddle-cloth, and a hussar
general's head-dress pbune, c. I80I

satisfactory engagement at Smolensk, and he had Grand Army by remaining too long in Moscow.
wasted precious weeks awaiting in vain the peace- The weather did the rest, not Kutuzov.
parlementaires from St Petersburg. Not until OfBorodino Murat said to Ney, on the morning
24 August, very late in the Russian campaigning after the battle, that he had 'never seen anything
season, did he decide at last to make for Moscow. like it for artillery fire, the armies being so close
Kutuzov had received some 30,000 reinforce- together that most ofit was grape'. And, comment-
ments, many from the opolchenie of very indifferent ing yet more soberly, added 'but the Russians
quality, and he decided to give battle near retired in good order'.
Borodino on the main highway to Moscow. The On 13 September Kutuzov held the celebrated
French forces had dwindled to about 125,000 and council of war at Fili and decided to give up
by now were slightly outnumbered by the Russians. Moscow rather than destroy his army. He left
After a preliminary engagement on 5 September, the old capital, moving off south-eastwards on the
the main battle began two days later and lasted Ryazan road. French troops entered the city the
throughout daylight. The French were left in next day.
possession of the field but their losses amounted
to 30,000. Before the end of that day General
Rapp, already wounded, commented to the
Emperor that he 'would be forced to send in the c%oscow
guard'. To which Napoleon replied that he would
'take good care not to' as he did not want it Alexander had decreed for the raising of a new
destroyed. By not committing the guard Napoleon militia for the defence of St Petersburg and
may have permitted Kutuzov to escape. But in the Moscow and for the creation of a new reserve in
event, the decision was of relatively little import- depth based on Nizhnii Novgorod. The three
ance, for Napoleon himself sealed the fate of the districts raised, respectively, 25,000, 125,000, and
25
 ing the city, since they required the supplies and
shelter which only Moscow could give. The
Russians, and particularly the Cossacks, on the
other hand, traditionally burned or destroyed
anything which might be of use to the enemy.
According to contemporary French reports most
of the Russian fire-fighting equipment had
already been removed and among the few arson-
ists taken in the act were Russian police officials.
The fire has never been satisfactorily explained,
but the likelihood is that it was Russian work,
whether instigated by Rostopchin or not. More
than three-quarters of the buildings were gutted.
The discipline of the French soldiery and their
allies broke down shortly after entering the
suburbs and Moscow was given over to plunder
and looting. The occupying troops often behaved
badly to the remaining inhabitants, and there
was a sharp increase in the numbers of Frenchmen
murdered by civilians.
Napoleon, foolishly believing that the destruc-'
tion of Moscow had strengthened his own bargain-
Non-conurUssioned officer and trooper from the Litovsky- ing power, sent two further messages to the Tsar
Tatarsky (Lithuanian-Tartar) Regiment of Horse, in
winter uniform, c. 1801 in St Petersburg, asking for an end to hostilities.
Alexander, although deeply depressed, remained
40,000 men. By far the majority of the recruits obdurate and ignored the notes. For he had lost
were serfs, and these took up arms either willingly much popularity in Russia, not on account of the
or without complaint. defeats or his unwillingness to treat with the
The Governor-General of Moscow, Count enemy, but because of his earlier friendship and
Rostopchin, had been responsible for raising the alliance with the French. Napoleon was not
greater part of this militia from provinces as far easily discouraged and on 5 October he sent
afield as Moscow, Smolensk, Tver, Tula, Yaroslavl General Lauriston, the former French Ambassador
Vladimir, Ryazan, and Kaluga, and in an effort to to St Petersburg, to parley with Kutuzov outside
sustain the morale of his new levies had depicted the lines in what was in effect no-man's-land.
Kutuzov's battles as victories. As the enemy Kutuzov would have done so, but General Sir
approached Moscow he assured the soldier Robert Wilson, who was present, protested. And
peasantry that the city would be defended and so Lauriston had to make his way to Kutuzov to
not given up. Rostopchin never forgave Kutuzov deliver a note which was forwarded to the Tsar.
for his decision to abandon the city. Alexander's only reaction was a letter of censure
The day after the occupation of Moscow to Kutuzov and Bennigsen, forbidding all contact
numbers of fires broke out. Fanned by a strong with the enemy.
north wind, they spread rapidly and gutted whole Meanwhile, as Wilson noted with satisfaction
districts. French troops brought them under some days later, 'regiments of Don Cossacks
control; but two days later the fires flared up continued to pour in. Such a reinforcement of
again. At first the Russians blamed the French cavalry was perhaps never equalled'. And they
for wanton destruction. Yet the evidence, such brought with them abundant supplies.
as it is, is more inclined to the view that the fires Kutuzov's decision to move off to the south of
were deliberately started by Russian incendiaries. Moscow, instead of northwards to Tver from
The French certainly had little motive for destroy- where he might cover the route to St Petersburg,
26
 Left: a field officer of the EkateriDoslavsky Cuirassiers
in parade dress, 1814; right: a trooper of the Glukhovsky
Cuirassiers in undress unifornt, of a pattern which was
to rentam in use for over fifty years

turned out to be a masterly one. It was unexpected westwards down the Moscow-Kaluga road but
by the French. Moreover, Kutuzov secured easy their progress was barred by a Russian force in
access to the Tula armament works, the Don Maloyaroslavets, and the fighting which followed
territories and the rich fqod-producing areas of was of such intensity as to discourage Napoleon
the south. After moving towards Ryazan he from following the southern route. He then turned
turned sharply westwards and, after a few days' back northwards along the Smolensk road, the
forced march, arrived at Tarutino on the Kaluga axis along which he had come, a route which had
road in the area to the south-west of Moscow. been eaten bare of all supplies thirty miles to the
There he was suitably poised to threaten the north and south.
westward communications of the French. On Wilson, much encouraged by the Russian
18 October Kutuzov surprised Murat in a sharp defence at Maloyaroslavets, exhorted Kutuzov
engagement near Tarutino, inflicting on him to fall on the marching French columns and
4,000 casualties. destroy Napoleon between Vyazma and Smolensk.
On that day Napoleon gave the order to But Kutuzov, acting either according to his own
evacuate Moscow and begin the homeward inclinations or to political instructions from St
march. Petersburg, would have none of it. For he told
There were neither shelter nor supplies in Wilson that 'the destruction of Napoleon and his
Moscow for the 100,000 troops of the Grand army would be of no benefit to Russia or to the
Army to winter in the city. Nor could Napoleon rest of the European continent . . . only Britain
direct the affairs of state of his huge empire from would benefit'. This was a rather roundabout way
this eastern outpost. So admitting failure, he of saying that it was in Russia's interest to preserve
decided to return, using a more southerly route its own armies, the better to be represented at the
on which, he hoped, supplies might be available. final peace. Henceforth Kutuzov was shortly to
The French imperial forces moved south- hand over the conduct of operations to Platov
27
 The Cossacks were particularly daring and
troublesome and it was dangerous to leave the
highway in search of shelter or food. Scores of
partisan bands raided and butchered isolated
detachments. Terrible atrocities took place, the
sight of which so sickened Wilson that he felt
compelled to protest to the Tsar. Yet the French
themselves were by no means guiltless and Russian
soldier prisoners were done to death in their
thousands when they could no longer be fed or
guarded.
At the beginning of November Napoleon
reached Smolensk, where Victor's reserve army
held the reinforcements and stores. The with-
drawing columns had already been reduced to
40,000 men. Even so the stores were not sufficient,
for the undisciplined mass of soldiery plundered
the depots, emptying the base in a few days. The
bitter cold sapped the French strength and in the
further battles about Krasny Napoleon suffered
more serious losses. When the Grand Army fell
back on the Berezina it was scarcely 20,000
Trooper and officer from His Majesty's Cuirassier strong.
Regiment, c. 1801 Meanwhile, on the far northern flank, Witt-
genstein's corps attacked Macdonald near Polotsk,
and his Don Cossacks, a cheap and easily replace- drove him back to the south-west, and took the
able source of soldiers. Kutuzov was content that French military base at Vitebsk. In the south
his regular forces should make flank marches, Admiral Chichagov had marched from Moravia
doing little more than shepherding the enemy and, joining up with Tormazov, moved north-
out of Russia. Wisely, he fought only when it wards, seizing the great French supply base at
suited him. Minsk. Chichagov then attempted to cut off the
withdrawal route of Napoleon's centre column by
occupying the crossing-places on the Berezina at
CJhe'Destruction Borisov. From the third week of November on-
wards the Russian Army began seriously to dispute

rfthe grand ~my French movement, Wittgenstein and Chichagov

doing their utmost to destroy the remnants of
those troops who had withdrawn from Moscow.
When the spearhead of the Grand Army left But Kutuzov, impervious to Wilson's anger,
Moscow it was 100,000 strong. Except for that of displayed his customary inertia in failing to come
the guard, discipline had already been eroded by to the support of his countrymen, excusin.g himself
the loss of good leaders and, more particularly, on the grounds that NapOleon's forces were still
by the demoralizing effect of looting and excesses. formidable and that it was foolish to risk defeat
Caravans of plunder were included in the with- when cold and hunger would finish off the
drawing columns. Very soon there was a shortage Frenchmen anyway.
of food which could only be met by slaughtering In the event, this is what happened. The
draught animals. The heavy autumn rains turned weather suddenly became colder. Wittgenstein
the roads into a morass, in which animals foun- and Chichagov, unsupported by Kutuzov, were
dered and artillery and carts had to be abandoned. unable to drive in Victor's rearguards, but cold

28
Officer and trunlpeter-nlajor of the Odessa Hussars, Grenadiers of the Liftyandsky Inspectorate of the Tav-
c. 1803 richesky Grenadier Repent, c. 1805

and panic destroyed most of Napoleon's forces timid monarch Frederick William was forced to
and camp-followers waiting to cross the Berezina. follow and, in the following March, declared war
Napoleon left for Paris. on France. Kutuzov took command of a Russo-
In all about 400,000 of the original half-million- Prussian army, until his death in April, when he
strong Grand Army failed to return from Russia. was succeeded by Wittgenstein. Only western
Russian losses were probably in the region of a Germany and the Rhineland remained to
quarter of a million. Napoleon.
By April, however, Napoleon had taken to the
field again. At the beginning of May he won
CJfie endofthe LiHzen, driving Russians and Prussians back
behind the Elbe. Three weeks later he defeated

~oleonic 'Wars
them again at Bautzen, but this time the Russians
yielded the field in good order and were shortly
ready for battle once more. Wittgenstein lost his
Kutuzov, true to his nature, was disinclined to command to Barclay de Tolly.
pursue the French beyond the Russian borders. Austria meanwhile used its good offices to
Alexander, however, insisted that Russian forces attempt to arrive at a peace settlement. Napoleon
should enter Germany, for the Tsar had come to was willing to talk, since every day gained
look upon himself as the saviour of Europe. strengthened his position. By August it was
In December 1812 Yorck's Prussian troops, apparent that Napoleon was disinclined for peace,
without authority from the King of Prussia, went except on his terms, and war was resumed,
over from Macdonald's French corps to the Austria joined Russia and Prussia.
Russians. Prussia welcomed the entry of Russian Napoleon won the two-day battle of Dresden,
troops as liberators from the French yoke. The but a few days later Barclay won a victory at
29
Kulm. In October all three allies converged on which had ten and Ukrainian Cossacks which had
Leipzig for the 'Battle of the Nations', on which eight. )
field, between 16 and 18 October, Napoleon was 4. Since 1806 the artillery brigade had been taken
decisively defeated. into use. The 1812 Russian artillery strength was:
On 30 March 1814 Alexander entered Paris. Guard, one brigade of two horse batteries and four
Napoleon abdicated on I I April and was exiled foot companies; Line, twenty-seven brigades of three
to Elba. In the final three-day campaign in 1815, companies; ten reserve brigades of four companies;
four depot brigades of eight companies.
which culminated in the Battle of Waterloo and
the end of Napoleon, neither Russian nor Austrian 5. The deployment of Russian troops in the west
troops took part. in May 1812 (including a number of Cossack regi-
ments called up from the hosts):

I ARMY (BARCLAY DE TOLLY)

CORPS Inf Cav. Cossack
NOTES Irifantry Bn Sqns Regts
I. In 1790 the field organization of the Russian I Wittgenstein 28 16 3
Army stood at: 2 Baggovut 24 8
50 REGIMENTS OF CA VALR Y 3 Tuchkov 24 4
Horse Guards Cuirassiers 5 4 Shuvalov 23 8
Horse Grenadiers Carabineers 13 5 Constantine 27 20
Horse-Eger 2 Hussars 14 6 Dokhturov 24 8
Dragoons 14 Cossacks 6 Cavalry
208 BATTALIONS OF INFANTRY I Uvarov 20
Guard Regiments 3 Eger Corps 10 2 Korf 24
Grenadier Regiments 13 Corps Battalions 22 3 Pahlen 24
Fusilier Regiments 56 Platov
2. In 1812 before the recommencement of the war
2 ARMY (BAGRATION)
the 170 regiments of field infantry were made up of CORPS Inf Cav. Cossack
six guard regiments; fourteen grenadier regiments;
Infantry Bns Sqns Regts
ninety-six fusilier regiments; fifty light infantry
7 Raevsky 24 8
regiments (not necessarily rifle-armed eger; four 8 Borosdin 22 20
marine regiments.
Cavalry
(First-line infantry numbered in all 286,000 men.)
4 Sievers
3. The seventy Russian cavalry regiments com- Ilovaisky 9
prised six guard regiments: Gentlemen of the Guard;
Horse Guards; Hussars; Dragoons; Lancers; and 3 ARMY (TORMAZOV)
Cossacks (all the guard regiments had five squadrons CORPS Inj. Cav. Cassack
except for the Cossacks which had three); and sixty- Infantry Bns Sqns Regts
four cavalry of the line regiments: eight cuirassiers Kamensky 12 8
regiments; thirty-six dragoon regiments; eleven Markov 24 8
hussar regiments; five lancer regiments; and four Sakken (depot corps) 12 24
Ukrainian Cossack regiments. (Line regiments had Cavalry
five squadrons except for the hussars and lancers Lambert 9

30
 Trooper in undress and Don-commissioned officer in
everday uniform of His Majesty's Cuirassier Guards,
c. 1803

and scabbard being in red moroccan leather,

trimmed at the edges with raspberry-coloured

C]!ie 'Plates silk and carrying on it a brass and silver star with
the Order of the Cross. The horse is ridden, as
with all guards cavalry, on the curb rein of the
A Ryadovoi (Trooper) of the Guards Cavalry Corps, rather fierce long-cheeked Pelham bit, the lower
in everyday uniform, 1799-1800 chain visible in the drawing being an ornament
The guards cavalry was re-formed in April 1799 and not the curb chain which fits, of course,
into a composite guards cavalry corps under the closely under the horse's chin. The uniform
auspices of the Grand Master of the Order of insignia is of particular interest, since its intro-
St John of Jerusalem, and the Cross of St John duction commemorated the assumption by the
was incorporated into the intricate cap-badge. Tsar Paul I of the Grand Mastership of the
The corps was designed to fill the very pressing Maltese Order of St John.
need for light cavalry and the troopers were
armed with the I797-pattern broadsword, a pair
of pistols carried one each side in the pommel
holsters of pig-leather (and known for this reason
as chushki or pigs), and a carbine carried on the Bl Fusilier of the Kievsky Grenadier Regiment, winter
right-hand side and suspended by a swivel to the field service uniform, 1797-1801
broad shoulder-belt of Russian red yuft leather The design of this uniform, which was in general
running over the trooper's left shoulder. The use at about this time, was taken from that of the
soldier carried the sabretache (lyadunka) commonly Gatchina infantry. The.tunic (known as the caftan
worn at that time by sword-carrying infantry as or mundir) was in the dark green colour traditional
well as cavalry: the sabretache, like the porte-epee to the Imperial forces, and the pattern was not
31
 Insignia of rank (full dress) of a general; right: a general-
adjutant, cuff and collar facings, 1808 and 1815

very different from that worn by the infantry of Prussian design, having a walnut butt and stock,
the Empress Catherine II. There were variations brass and steel fittings with bayonet cleaning-rod
by regiments; some wore white metal buttons and and ramrod attached. In length it was one arshin
different-coloured facings; some Moskovsky regi- fourteen vershkov (about fifty-two inches) or, with
ments wore the parallel cuff woollen braid bayonet fixed, sixty-eight inches. It was inaccurate
vertically instead of horizontally; but in the main and had an effective range of less than 200 yards.
the general appearance for the line infantry tunic The soldier carried a sword as well as a bayonet
was not greatly different. Underneath the tunic and a grey unlined winter greatcoat.
the soldier wore a red neckerchief, a shirt or
waistcoat of the same colour as the pantaloons,
usually white but in some regiments citron or
straw-coloured, and in cold weather a sheepskin B2 Nestroevoi Serzhant (Non-combatant Sergeant) of
half-jacket or shuba. Pantaloons were of wool in an Infantry Regiment, walking-out dress, I786-96
winter and linen in summer and the spats or Non-combatant officials formed a considerable
leggings were of strong, black, canvas-like cloth. part of the Tsarist Army and carried out a wide
All the leather equipment for the soldier's variety of functions. They manned the supply and
accoutrements was of Russian yuft except for the transport service both inside and outside the
pack which was of black calf-leather. The crossed regiments; they were the collectors of the wounded
white shoulder-straps were traditional to the and what passed in those days for the medical
Russian Army for nearly 150 years. The cap was orderlies, known as overseers (nadzirateli) of the
of a very old-fashioned pattern since discarded in wounded; they were the commissariat and the
western Europe, with a thin metal covering sutlers, the clerks, the draughtsmen, the artisans,
bearing a crown, the inscription 'God is with us', and even the barbers; some were officials of
and a large Imperial eagle. The musket was of officer grade, doctors, surgeons, auditors, pay-
32
 Cavalry head-dress 1803-8. Left: a curassier trooper and
non-cotnnUssioned officer; right: a non-cotnnUssioned
officer of the Grebensky Cuirassiers

masters, apothecaries, and priests. For the other In addition grenadier regiments were to wear a
ranks, the pattern of the uniform was similar to distinctive colour on the shoulder-straps (pagani) :
that shown here, always in green with the red yellow for St Petersburg, white for Siberia, and
cap, wearing the tesak sword and a.cane for the red for the remainder, the number of the division,
walking-out dress. Although they were classified where applicable, being shown on the grenadier's
as non-combatants, they carried a musket or pistol shoulder-strap, in gold for officers and stitched for
in time of war. Non-combatant officials of officer other ranks. The new pattern of uniform showed
grade wore the everyday green officer's uniform, French Napoleonic and Prussian influences and
but their swords were of a distinctive pattern was to remain in service, little altered, for the next
with a straight blade and a single guard on the forty years. The greatcoat, carried rolled over the
hilt. shoulder in traditional fashion, was grey, the
winter woollen pantaloons being exchanged in
summer for those of Flemish linen. At his back the
grenadier carried a sword and bayonet scabbard,
BJ A St Petersburg Grenadier, winter general service a black leather iyadunka or cartridge-case bearing
uniform, 1808 the same regimental crest (the flaming grenades)
By a new army regulation of 7 November 1807 as was worn on the cap, a black calf-leather pack
all heavy infantry, that is to say line and grena- and a water-bottle. The re~ulation load for the
diers, were to have distinguishing patches on the pack was two spare shirts, one pair pantaloons,
greatcoat collar and the tunic collar and cuffs, footwrappings (instead of socks), a soft forage-cap,
denoting the seniority of each regiment in the spare boots, drawers, twelve flints for the flintlock,
division: red for the first, white for the second, three brushes, two graters, a button-stick, pipeclay
yellow for the third, dark green with thin red and boot polish, and a housewife. The summer
piping for the fourth, and sky-blue for the fifth. weight of the pack was 25 lb, in winter 26t lb.

33
 C2 Infantry General, summer parade uniform, 1808-10
The commanders of all formations of the size of
brigade and above were part of the generalitet,
another military collective borrowed from Prussia,
although in the guard regimental commanders
might be major-generals. Generals were usually
classified, again German fashion, according to
arm so that as full generals they were known as
Generals of Infantry or Artillery. The pattern of
the collar and sleeve braid was usually common to
arms, however, except that the General-Adjutant
a designation bestowed also on admirals (who
shared the army ranking system), had his own
very distinctive gold braid pattern.

C3 Unter-Ofitser (Junior Non-Commissioned Officer or

Corporal) of the Sumsky Hussars, summer parade
dress, 1797-1801
The Sumsky Hussars claimed that they were one
of the oldest regiments, if not the oldest, in the
A non-coDlInissioned and a cosnpany officer of the Imperial Army, having been founded, according
~oskovskyGrenadiers,c. 1801
to tradition, in 165 I as the town Cossacks of the
frontier town of Sumy, near the Russo-Ukrainian
Cl Officer of Horse Artillery, summer general servzce
border about half-way between Kiev and Khar-
uniform, 1797-1801
kov. These town Cossacks were in fact regular
The artillery had not long before been accepted
forces and had no connection with the main
as an arm of the field army rather than as auxili-
Cossack hosts, and during their long life the
aries, and the pattern of the uniform at this time
Sumsky cavalry had been Cossacks, dragoons,
showed the officer to be more like a country
uhlans, and hussars. But even among hussars
squire than a soldier. No epaulettes or badges were
they were regarded as an aristocratic and exclusive
worn and there was little about the wearer, except
regiment and the regiment was often included in
for his straight and heavy cuirassier officer-pattern
the guard cavalry corps. In winter a blue-grey
sword to show that he was part of the Tsar's
cloak with fawn fur edging was worn, together
regular forces. Mounted, of course, he looked a
with heavier brick-red breeches with a white stripe
little more imposing, usually on a bay charger
at the edge. The long flowing shabrack saddle-
with a dark green gilt-edged shabrack with the
blanket was blue-grey with white toothed edging,
Emperor's monogram surmounted by a crown
and bearing the monarch's monogram at the rear.
embroidered in gold in the corner and on the
holster covers. The uniform of the horse artillery
at the time was almost identical to that of foot
artillery, but, by 1812, the horse artillery adopted
a pattern of dress very like that of cuirassiers and Dl Bombardir (Bombardier) of Foot Artillery, summer
dragoons with a high-crested tall helmet, a short field service uniform, 1808-9
green tunic with a black high collar and cuffs A bombardir was later, like his British equivalent,
edged in red, red and gold epaulettes, a white a corporal of artillery, but at this time he was a
cummerbund, and grey trousers buttoned at the private of artillery, a gunner, usually manning a
side from hip to ankle bone. mortar or howitzer. Except that he carried no
34
 Hussar regbnent, waist-belt, porte-epee, sabre and car-
bine, pistol, shabrack and cartridge-ease, c. 1801.

musket his equipment and his load were the same linen. Some regiments wore coloured piping on
as that for an infantryman. Across his shoulder the green pantaloons. As light infantry their
he slung his greatcoat, and on his back he wore a parade and skirmishing order was without pack
black calf-leather pack and water-bottle, a black and other impedimenta, no sword was carried
lyadunka ammunition case, and the tesak, a other than a sword-bayonet similar to that in use
straight-bladed short sword. He appears to have elsewhere a century later. The firearm was a
carried no other weapons, for French reports short-barrelled ft.intlock with an eight-groove
described Russian gunners defending their guns rift.ed bore, the bayonet mounting being on the
against cavalry and infantry, using swords, right-hand side of the barrel. This rift.e was first
rammers, and handspikes. manufactured as early as 1775. Eger rifle batta-
lions provided the skirmishers and screens, relying
on their fleetness of foot and long-range fire, to
cover the main body of infantry and artillery.
D2 Unter- 0 jitser (Corporal) of 8 Eger Regiment, winter
parade uniform, 1802
Light infantry of foot (eger from German Jager)
usually wore a light green uniform, but the colour D3 Ryadovoi (Trooper) of Uhlans (His Royal Highness
of the collar and sleeve varied according to the the Tsarevich Konstantin Pavlovich's Regiment),
number of the regiment. Eger never wore the undress uniform, 1803-6
coloured shoulder-straps (pogoni) as did the Uhlans were light cavalrymen, armed with lance,
infantry a.nd t.he other arms. The greatcoat was of sword, and carbine, first used by the Turks and
regulation ·grey, without shoulder-straps, and in then by the Poles in the Austrian service. Their
summer all ranks wore white trousers ofunbleached name in Turkish meant 'children', and can be

35
 Left: an officer of the Taganrog Dragoons; right: a hussar's
head-dress, 1803

compared with the Italian infante in infantry. of the Ukraine. The kettle-drummer wore almost
Uhlans were adopted by Austrian, Pole, German, the same uniform as that of the staff-trumpeter; in
and Russian. The honorary Colonel of the regi- some cuirassier regiments buttons and braid were
ment, the Tsarevich Konstantin, son of the Tsar in silver and not gold. Like all kettle-drummers,
Paul and brother of Alexander I, had taken up his when the drums were in play, he controlled his
residence in Warsaw where he was a great horse by snaffle reins attached to the stirrup-irons.
admirer of Polish troops and Polish women. This Like dismounted non-commissioned officers he
trooper is shown in undress, wearing the soft also carried the long walking-out cane (trost).
forage-cap of the period. The dress for ceremonial
parades was similar except that the forage-cap
was replaced by the tall square uhlan shako, with
glazed peak and high plume, and the blue overalls Fl Konduktor (Conductor or Senior Non-Commissioned
by dark grey pantaloons buttoned at the side from Officer) of the Engineer Corps, everyday uniform,
hip to ankle. The usual two broad white leather 1812-16
shoulder-belts were worn, one on each shoulder The engineer corps, including sappers, miners,
and crossing at the chest, one for the sword and and pontoon troops, were really an offshoot of the
the other for the carbine. foot artillery and their uniforms had much in
common. The grenadiers and artillery used the
flaming grenade or bomb as the regimental badge,
and the engineer troops followed suit. The shako,
E Litavrshchik (Kettle-drummer) of the Glukhovsky except for slight differences in the badge and
Cuirassiers, ceremonial parade uniform, 1802-3 plume, was identical and the tunic was somewhat
The Glukhovsky Cuirassier Regiment was origin- similar to that of foot artillery. The engineers,
ally raised at Glukhov, a town in the north-east however, wore thick grey overalls in winter (white

36
linen in summer) with the protective button-up
gaiters. All other ranks of engineers carried the
short sword as a side-arm.

F2 Trooper of the Tartar Horse Regiment, winter

field service uniform, 1803-6
Tartar cavalry often served as part of Cossack
formations although it was, of course, in no way
Cossack,. and the Tartar uniform dress was a
curious mixture of pattern. The Tartar trooper
shown here is wearing a uhlan shako, but his
shoulder-belt, sabretache (not visible), and porte-
epee all of Russian red yuft, together with the
sabre are of hussar pattern, except that they are
without the usual white silk or wool edge trim-
ming. This particular Tartar regiment was some-
times paired with a Lithuanian horse regiment
which was similarly accoutred. The nine-foot
lance was carried by a shoulder-sling when
mounted, or held in the crook of the right arm
when on dismounted guard duty. The white sling
on the left shoulder is attached by a swivel to a A grenadier's arms and equipment, C. 1801,
showing musket with bayonet fixed, scabbard
carbine (behind the soldier's back). and lock-eover; porte-epee, short sword and
cartridge-case

F3 Unter-Ofitser (Corporal) of the Balaclava Greek

Infantry Battalion, ceremonial dress, 1797-1830
There were a number of small Greek colonies on
the Black Sea ports and Tsarist Russia gave refuge
to fellow members of the Orthodox religion
fleeing from the oppression of the Turk. Two
Greek battalions had been formed, the first in the
reign of the Empress Catherine II, really as an
expression of Tsarist goodwill to the Greeks, and
they were used mainly for guard duties. They
were very colourful, but their arms and equipment
were so obsolete that, when eventually they
were committed to battle, they demanded modern
Russian arms. But these, when received, were no
improvement and caused the Greeks to mutiny.
The ·uniform of officers was similar to that shown
on the plate, except that the gold edging was much
wider and gold buttons were worn; private
soldiers, on the other hand, had no gold braid at
all. The difference between the first and second Insignia for General Staff (suite) officers in full-
battalions lay in the variation of colours between dress uniform, and (right) shabrack and bolster-
covers,c.1808
waistcoats, shirts, cuffs, and collars, in green, dark
green, and red.

37
 G1 Unter-Ofttser (Corporal) of 24 Eger Regiment,
walking-out dress, 1806-7
There was some variation in the uniforms of the
foot eger regiments. Most were in light green
uniforms, but they could also be found, as here,
in dark green tunics and dark green or summer
white linen overalls. The collar and cuff colours
were of course another distinguishing feature,
which varied between regiments. All eger regi-
ments were, however, armed with the rifled
carbine and all wore black leather belts and
accoutrements. Unlike the line, other ranks never
carried the sword but relied on the bayonet as
the side-arm. The newly introduced stove-pipe
head-dress shown in the plate was common in
other armies of western Europe. For fatigue wear
or in undress the stove-pipe head-dress was
replaced by the forage-cap with a drooping crown
and hanging tassel, looking very much like the
nineteenth-century nightcap.

Horse artillery officer's

cartridge-pouch and
forage caps worn by
other ranks of the
garrison artillery,
c.18n-17

a
G2 Ober-Ofttser (Junior Officer) of the Kirnburnsky
Top: a dragoon officer's cartridge-ease and a Dragoons, winter parade uniform, 1812-14
shako of the Kiev Dragoons; below: the head- At about this time there was much change in the
dress of the horse eger (a) trooper, (b) a non-
conunissioned officer, c. 1814 detail of the uniform of the cavalry of the line,
for the Kirnburnsky Dragoons could also be found
with brass spurs, and a light green tunic, usually
38
 Left: a non-eonunissioned officer of the Tversky
Dragoons; right: a Fanenjunker (officer aspirant) of the
St Petersburg Dragoon Regbnent, c. 1803

worn with the white cloth summer pantaloons. HI Bombardir of Horse Artillery, winter parade
Each dragoon regiment was allotted a basic uniform, '1814-16
colour, although a single colour might be shared The horse artillery wore a distinctive head-dress
by several regiments, and this colour was common quite different from that of the foot and carried
to the collar patch, the cuff, the shoulder-straps the mounted-pattern sabre. Ranks could be
(pogoni) and the saddle-cloth. distinguished by the horse-hair sultan or plume. A
private soldier had a plume, as shown in this plate,
of white with black and orange at the root;
G3 Ryadovoi (Trooper) of the Lijiyandsky (Livonian) non-commissioned officer's was black and orange
Horse-Eger Regiment, winter parade uniform, at the top and white below; a trumpeter's was
1813-1 4 red. An officer's was different again in design.
Whereas the dragoon was meant to be the Foreign spectators at about this time reported
mounted heavy infantryman, the horse eger filled that the horse artillery also wore a uniform very
the need for mounted rifles. Like his cousin of the similar to that of dragoons or cuirassiers, with the
foot he was the skirmisher and the scout, finding high fur combed helmet, a green tunic and grey
the screens and standing patrols for cavalry as well overalls buttoned up at the side.
as infantry. Yet he was supposed to be able to
fight as cavalry, for he carried the heavy-pattern
curved cavalry sword. His uniform was something H2 Pontonier of a Pontoon Regiment, field servzce
between that of the horse artillery and the dis- uniform, 1805-7
mounted eger, and at his back he carried a black The Russian engineers, sappers and miners were,
leather sabretache surmounted by the Imperial as we have said, an offshoot of the gunners and in
double-headed spread-eagle in brass. His horse 1805 the pontoon regiments were still listed under
shabrack was in dark green edged in red. artillery. In consequence the uniform was little
39
 LIVONIA I
MOSCOW I
Borodin~1
9'\.. /'
/ /~ "."
Maloyaroslavets
-:..;::;..

c".,.
....
"-,.
,">
l. ...., pripet
,.Brest Litovsk
- - - Napoleon's route
!\
,.. \
..,,-."/
... \ o
,-I_ _
SO 100
-'--_----1.'
200
------'1 miles

Napoleon's Dlarch on Moscow, 1812

H3 Unter-Ofitser (Corporal) of Astrakhan Cuirassiers, different from that of the foot artillery, from which
winter ceremonial parade uniform, I8I2-I4 the pontonier could be distinguished only by his
By a St Petersburg order of 12 October 181 I the black shoulder-strap and the black cockade in the
Astrakhansky Cuirassier Regiment and the Nov- centre of the other ranks' shako. The pontonier
gorodsky Cuirassier Regiment were ordered to could also be found wearing grey overalls,
change the colour of their uniforms, the Astrak- buttoned up at the side, instead of leather knee
hansky Regiment taking a plain yellow uniform boots. The wide white leather shoulder-belt
while the Novgorodsky Cuirassiers took pink. carried a black leather ammunition case display-
Otherwise the design of their unif0rms, in common ing the Imperial double-headed spread-eagle in
with most other cuirassier regiments, was almost brass. The pontonier carried a curved half-sabre
identical except for the collar and shoulder-strap and not the foot-artilleryman's straight-edged
colours. tesak.

40
Men-at-Arms Series 3.95

Each title in this serie gives a brief history of a famous fighting unit, with a
full de cription of its dre and- accoutrements, illu trated with eight color
pI te and many drawings and photographs.. Collectors of militaria, war
me enthusiasts, historians and amateur military strategists will find in these
works a wealth of enriching background material that will add to their know-
ledge of this fa cinating subject.

MEN-AT-A MERlE
BLUCHER'S ARMY .Peter Toung
FRE CH FOREIGN LEGION Martin Windrow
GEO GE WASHINGTON'S ARMY Peter Toung
TH IRO BRIGADE John Selby
J PA ESE ARMY OF WORLD WAR II Philip Warner
LUFTWAFFE AIRBORNE AND FIELD UNITS Martin Windrow
THE PANZER DIVISIO S Martin Windrow
THE SOVIET ARMY A.lbert Seaton
U ITED STATES MA I E ·CORPS John Selby
WAFFE SS Martin Windrow
WELLI GTO 'S PE I SULAR ARMY James Lawford

UEUTENANT-COLONEL AL E T EATON (Retd.) is the author of

many books on Ru ian military hi.story; his The Russo-German War 1941-45 is
prob bly the only complete and authoritative account published in the free
world, nd has app t d in London, New York nd Frankfurt. Among his
recently published work is The Battle for Moscow; Stalin as Military Commander
will be published in 1973, and he is at present engaged on the writing of
Stalingrad.

Hippocrene Books, Jnc., 171 Madi on Avenu, ew York, .Y. 10016

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