Handbook of the russian army 1914

The cossacks also had their own reserve system, in which only the first-line regiments were maintained in peacetime for example, 17 regiments of Don Cossacks , but upon mobilization the men forming the second and third-line regiments would be called up, effectively tripling the size of the peacetime host.

A Don Cossack regiment consisted of a commander a colonel , two assistant commanders lieutenant colonels , six company commanders yesauly , six junior officers in each company khorunzhi to podyesaul , one first sergeant per company usually a podkhorunzhi , 40 senior and 40 junior sergeants per per regiment, 18 trumpeters, 18 corporals, and privates.

Tactics In the Russian Army was still absorbing the lessons of the Russo-Japanese War of —, so many of the faults discovered in that conflict had not yet been corrected. Infantry An infantry company could be drawn up in close order, open order, or extended order, but no fixed interval was prescribed for open and extended order, other than that the men should be at least one pace 28—35 inches apart.

In combat the company was usually formed with the men at intervals of two to four yards, the 1st and 2d platoons in line forming the first line, the 3d and 4th the second line, with intervals and distances of about 30—40 yards between platoons. However, the company commander might designate one or more platoons as a reserve and form the remainder of the troops in a different manner.

Depending on its formation, the usual frontage of a company in combat was between and yards. At about 2, to 3, yards from the enemy, the companies would deploy into their attack formations and would open fire at about yards.

Volleys were still used down to 1, yards and occasionally at closer ranges. On the defensive, Russian troops were trained to counter-attack when the enemy had approached to within 50 yards of their position. Machine guns were always deployed in two-gun sections, with one section being allotted to each battalion in the regiment. In the attack they were supposed to be pushed well forward. Cavalry A cavalry squadron generally formed for combat with two to three troops forward in line and one or more in reserve.

To attack enemy horse, the cavalry would start at the trot in extended order. At yards they would go to the gallop, at yards to the charge and close ranks. When attacking infantry, the first echelons would be in a single rank in extended order, the rear echelons in one or two ranks in open order. If attacking artillery, they formed in two extended lines about yards apart, with the first line in a single rank, the second in two.

Cavalry could also employ the lava , an offensive tactic formerly used only by the cossacks. This was usually conducted by individual squadrons formed with two to three troops in widely extended order, often in a crescent formation, with the reserve squadron about 75— yards to the rear, and was intended as a harassing tactic to disrupt the enemy prior to an attack, to screen a maneuver, or delay his advance.

Part of the lava could be dismounted to conduct fire. Cossack cavalry could dismount all but one man per troop. Dismounted fire was conducted by individual troops occupying a frontage of 35 to 70 yards. Individual aimed fire at close range was the normal tactic, but volley fire could also be employed, and on the defensive, long-range fire could be used to force an enemy to deploy sooner.

Artillery Each artillery battery was provided with 11 mounted and 18 dismounted scouts, observers, and signalers. These were formed into advance parties of 6—8 men who moved with the advance guard in order to locate and occupy good observation positions.

Artillery commanders received precise instructions concerning mission, location, when firing is to commence, further locations to be occupied if required, etc. Guns would also be detailed to accompany the advancing infantry to engage enemy artillery and machine guns and destroy any obstacles blocking the advance. Artillery observers accompanied the infantry to report when the infantry were about to be endangered by friendly artillery fire, and the infantry was supposed to signal their position with flags or some other method.

Ranks Peter the Great, as part of his program of modernizing and westernizing Russia, endeavored to curb the power of the old, anti-western nobility, or boyars , by changing all military and civil posts from hereditary offices to appointments based on merit, allowing even commoners to advance to high office.

This system, modified several times in the two centuries between the reigns of Peter I and Nicholas II, remained until the fall of the monarchy the basis of all rank, both civil and military, in the Russian Empire. In the same manner that the modern US military has a unified system of ranks across all four services, so the Russians had a unified system of ranks not only for the Army, the Navy, and the Imperial Guard, but also for the Civil Service and Court offices, so that, for example, a nadvorny sovetnik court counsellor at Class 7 was equal in rank to a captain or rotmistr in the Imperial Guard, a lieutenant colonel or voyskovoy starshina in the line, or a captain second rank in the Navy.

Officer ranks in were roughly equivalent to those in the current US military, but there were far fewer enlisted ranks. As can be seen from the example given above, the same rank differed in name not only between the services, but often also between the combat branches of the Army. A private was a ryadovoy in the infantry and cavalry, a kanonir in the artillery, and a kazak in the cossacks.

A corporal was a yefreitor in the infantry and cavalry, a bombardir in the artillery, and a prikazny in the cossacks. The next rank, junior sergeant, was mladshi unter-ofitser in the infantry and cavalry, mladshi feyerverker in the artillery, and mladshi uryadnik in the cossacks.

The rank of senior sergeant varied the same way: starshi unter-ofitser , starshi feyerverker , and starshi uryadnik. Written in English — pages. Subjects Russia , Russia. Armiya , Organization , Handbooks, manuals , Russia.

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