Svensk Militärhistoria / Swedish Military History

The Army of Russia 1788-1790

In 1786, during the regime of Catherine the great, the Russian army went through a complete "make over". New types of units were introduced and some completely new ideas were used when designing the new uniforms. The information provided here are in no way complete. The purpose is just to give a rough idea on how the Russian army of Finland might have looked. The Russian army was indeed mighty, but the Russian empire was at this point busy fighting the Turks, so only a fraction were available to face the Swedish attack.

Organisation

The Cavalry

The Cuirassiers were used for traditional task for mounted units, the charge.
The Dragoons where mostly used as mounted infantry and for recognisance. When engaging in combat they preferred to dismount. The Russians regarded Dragoons as "inferior and poorly trained cavalry".
The Carabineer were dragoons, but were regarded to be of a higher quality.
The Chevaulégers (light cavalry) and the Hussars had more or less the same role, recognisance, but they were also capable to launch mounted charges.
If necessary, all cavalry units could engage dismounted.

In 1788 the Russian cavalry had the following units:

5 Cuirassier regiments
18 Carabineer regiments
These units counted 1106 men and 907 "battle horses" distributed on six squadrons.

11 Dragoon regiments, each with 1882 men and 1565 "battle horses" distributed on ten squadrons
14 Light Cavalry regiments, each with 1047 men and 907 "battle horses" distributed on six squadrons.
3 Hussar regiments. The numbers differed between 1000 and 2000 each.

The Infantry

According to the 1763 regulations, each Grenadier and Musketeer regiment were to form two battalions of six companies each. In the musketeer battalion one of the company were a Grenadier company. Each regiment held 2004 men in all, but only 1849 were in combat positions (925men / battalion). When on campaign, each battalion left one company at home as garrison.

In 1788 a new regulation was issued, reducing the number of companies to five / battalion. The regimental manpower were still the same.

The Jaeger regiments were organised along the same lines as the other infantry units, though their manpower was lower. 1425 men in combat positions are mentioned.

Notes on tactics:

The forming of Jaeger units within the Russian army were inspired by the Prussian use of such units in the "Seven Year War". While reading Swedish battle reports, I get the impression that the Russian jaegers were used for recognisance and as skirmishers on the flanks and ahead of the main battle line.

I have no information what so ever of any difference in quality or tactics regarding the Musketeers and the Grenadiers.

Uniforms

The general idea behind the new design of the uniforms were to supply the troops with an outfit that were more suitable on the battlefield than the older ones. The new uniform is sometime referred to as "the Potemkin uniform".

The new jacket was worn buttoned and the turnbacks could be "buttoned down" for protection in bad whether. Pants of full length and a looser fit replaced the older breeches that had been tight and of knee length. The tricone was also replaced with a cap. It had a peek to protect from the sun light, a large pad to protect the head in close combat, and some ties in the neck that could be used as "ear flaps". The use of wig and white powder were abolished. During the regime of Tsar Paul, the Potemkin uniform was abandoned and the older fashion was reinstated.

In general, all units used a uniform of the same cut. The single regiment could be identified only by the design of the epaulette worn on the left shoulder.

Infantry and dragoons

My drawings are made as support for painting wargaming figures of a scale about 15 mm. For that reason I have taken the liberty to simplify some details. Please feel free to point out errors.

In general

Hat, boots, ammunitions pouch and bayonet were in black. Belts in white. The sign on the ammunition pouch and the band on the cap were in brass.

			Grenadiers and Line infantry Green jacket with the collar, lapels, cuffs and the decorations on the turnbacks in red. Red pants with double stripes in yellow. Line infantry had in general a yellow pad on the cap while the Grenadier regiments appears to have had a white pad and yellow ribbons on the right shoulder. Dragons They used the same uniform and colourings as the line infantry. To distinguish them they had some yellow ribbons on the right shoulder. Jaegers Over all dark green. Double stripes and details on the jacket in black. Red piping on lapels and cuffs. Garrison units They had a less decorated uniform then the other units. It was over all dark grey/green. Red collars and cuffs. The cap was of a less expensive kind.
Line infantry	Jaeger	Garrison unit

In 1789 the following infantry unit were in, or nearby Finland:
The Lieb grenadier regiment
The Mourom regiment
The Veliko-Loutzk regiment
The Tobolsk regiment
The Nevsk regiment
The Pskov regiment (The pad on the cap was black)
The Navaginsky regiment
The Narva regiment
The Kexholm regiment
The Tenginsky regiment
The Riazan regiment
The Vyborg regiment
The Jeletz regiment
The Belozersk regiment
The Finnish Jaeger corps (four battalions)
The Estonian Jaeger corps (2nd and 3rd battalions)

I don't know if any of these units were listed as Garrison regimens.

From one source I have received information stating that the following units also served in Finland during the war:
Revals regiment (White pad and plume. Red tails on the cap) and
Kozlovs (or possibly Kozlovskys) regiment (Black pad, white plume, black plate and red tails with white pipings on the cap).

Cavalry

			Cuirassier Yellow jackets. The colouring on collars, lapels and turn backs differed between the regiments. Lieb-Cuirassiers: Green on collars, lapels, turn backs, the back of the cap and trousers. White was used on the stripes on the trousers, pads and plumes in the cap. Military order: Black with orange pipings on collars, lapels, turn backs and the back of the cap. Trousers green (?) with black stripes. White was used on pads and plumes in the cap. Ekaterinoslavskys: Light blue on collars, lapels, turn backs, the back of the cap and trousers. Yellow stripes on the trousers. White pads and plumes in the cap. Kasansky: Same as Ekaterinoslavsky but dark blue instead of light blue. Carabineer Dark blue uniform with red. Yellow buttons. The pad on the helmet was generally white but other colours was in use as well. Chevaulégers (light cavalry) Dark blue uniform with red. White buttons. The pad on the helmet was generally white but other colours was in use as well.
Cuirassier	Carabinier	Light cavalry

In 1789 the following cavalry unit were in, or nearby Finland:

The Yambourg Carabineer regiment
The Pskov Dragoon regiment (White pading and plumes, light yellow tails with white details on the cap)
The Yambourg Dragoon regiment
One Hussar regiment
Some 2000 Cossacks

Artillery

There artillery was organised in two ways, as regimental artillery and as the independent units of the field artillery.

		The regimental artillery had the green uniform of the line infantry. All details were however black. The pad on the cap was in general white but other colours was also used. The field artillery had an over all red uniform. Details on the jacket in black and with double stripes in yellow on the pants. The pad on the cap was white while the bands hanging down from the cap was in yellow. Painting the limbers There are some confusing info on the paintings of the artillery limber. Some sources state that the limber were painted in the same colour for all artillery, and some state that the two branches used different colours. Don't take my notes as the truth, merely as what I believe at this moment, so don't get surprised if I change my mind... All metal was painted in black. When it comes to the wooden parts the field artillery is said to have used green paint while the regimental artillery used red. (Yes I know, this is opposite of the colours on their uniforms. )
The Regimental artillery	The Field artillery

Colours

The ideas about uniformity did also influenced the colours of the Grenadier and Musketeer regiments. In 1780 new colours were issued. The only distinctions between the units were that the crest of the city or the province were the unit were required were portrayed on the chest of the double eagle (the red area in my illustration).

I have no info on colours for Jaegers (if there were any) and for the mounted units.

Below you will find some scanned images that I have received from some of my friends on the Internet. The pictures shows samples of Russian colours of the period 1763 -1799.

	Russian Colours-1 Page 175 shows colours from the period of 1763-1796. The Russian regiments were obviously carrying two different colours. One regimental (the white) and one called “the coloured”. The later seems to have been used by the battalions. This picture shows: White regimental colour of Leib-guards Preobrazensky regiment, model 1763 (1); coloured battalion's colour, model 1763, of the Leib-guards regiments: Preobrazensky (2), Semyenovsky (3), Izmailovskiy (4); coloured battalion's colour of the grenadiers regiments, 1763-1780 (5), a colour of the St.-Petersburg garrison (6).
	Russian Colours-2 Page 189 shows`:` Different infantry helmet (musketeers and grenadiers, after 1786 (1); fanions of Leib-guardes regiments: Preobrazensky (2), Semenovsky (3). Izmaylovsky (4). “Fanion”. It’s a french word, that in Russian means a small flag, which was carried by infantry NCO for maintaining an alignment in formation. Futher more some Officer infantry regiments shabracks: staff-officer (5), ober-officer (6). Aiguillettes of the Leib-grenadiers regiment (7).
	Russian Colours-3 P 192 shows colours from the 1763-1796 period. Regimental (Colour) colours of the infantry regiments, 1763-1780. I get the impression that each division had it's own colour and that the individual regiments were distinguished by the crest on the centre of the colour. Divisions: Estlandia (1), Ukrainian and Svevsk, after 1766 (2), Liflandia (3), Smolensk (4), St.-Petersburg (5), Finnish (6), Siberian corps (7), Moscow (8), Svevsk, up to 1766 (9), Ukrainian, up to 1766 (10), Orenburg corps (11). Obverse (12) and averse (13) sides of Regimental (Colour) colours of the grenadiers and infantry regiments, model 1780. The white/yellow colour (called the 1780 pattern) Obverse (12) and averse (13) sides of Regimental (Colour) colours of the grenadiers and infantry regiments, model 1780. These colours were the same for all regiments. To tell the different regiment from each other, the regimental crest were put in the centre of the colour. I don’t know if these regiments had two different colours like the Life guards.
	Russian Colours-4 P 248 shows colours from the 1786-1799 period. Colour of the Gatchinsky armies (1), kaiser-colour Gatchinsky armies (2), 1786-1796; white regimental colour of Leib-guards Preobrazensky regiment, model 1796 (3), colour battalion’s colour of Leib-guards Semyenovsky regiment, model 1796 (the Maltese cross was added on a panel after 1798) (4).